Damage Control
by Nadey
Summary: “Look, you know we’ve been trying to get that Bella Swan cover story for a while, but she keeps turning it down? Well it seems they are ready to damage control..." Bella hates journalists, but now she trust one to save her. AU/AH/OOC - Lemons
1. Chapter 1

BPOV

"Nice one guys, see you next time!" I shouted as I exited the stage, handing my mic to one of the crew. I took the steps two at a time, heading for my dressing room and receiving congratulations from passers-by in the corridors, all of these people worked for me and I hardly knew any of them, I sometimes thought I should take more time to get to know people, but my life was just so hectic that I couldn't seem to fit it in.

I pushed open the door to my dressing room, there were flowers and gifts from fans all over the little table and sofa, completely surrounding my manager who was sitting on the edge of the sofa.

"Where do you put all of this shit?"

"The good stuff goes on the bus... the rest of it... well... I don't know really," I said, waving it off dismissively. Some of my fans went to so much effort for me, but really, there was just nowhere to put some of this stuff. If I mention on an interview that I like something, a certain perfume or food, then I'll have 30 of it the next day waiting for me.

"I take it you're going out tonight then?" My manager said with a smile.

"Yes Rose I am," I grinned back, taking my stage make up off with a wipe before walking over to a little bag that Rose was holding up for me, which I suspect had my clothes in. "Lifesaver." I breathed, getting changed into it quickly, before re-applying some more, street appropriate make up.

"I was thinking me and Em might come out as well... if you don't mind obviously!"

I turned to look at her with a grin, "Of course I don't mind! You guys haven't come out for AGES!"

"Well it's hardly professional is it?"

"Meh, who cares! We all like a drink!" I leafed through a few cards and letters from fans, waiting for the majority of the crowd to leave the arena. However long I waited though, there were always loads waiting for me when I left, some even followed me to wherever I was going out that night, so I ended up having to go to private clubs most nights. "Emmett was on _fire_ tonight by the way Rose!"

"Yeah?" She cocked an eyebrow at me and I laughed.

"God yes. If you weren't boning him, I would _so_ give him a go!"

"I don't know if that's a good thing or not!" She laughed back at me, "You're hardly picky!"

I put my hand over my heart, and gasped in mock insult, just as there was a knock on the door. We both told whoever it was to come in, when Emmett poked his head around the door, grinning at us both.

"Good show, bitch!" Emmett said, walking into the room and going to sit next to Rosalie. Emmett was my guitarist, and a bloody good one at that. I met him when I just started out in the music industry, he was my session guitarist for my demo, and I just couldn't bear to let him go so I asked him if he would be in my back up band, and luckily he agreed. I was introduced to my manager, Rosalie, when I got my first top 5 album, and the record label decided I should have a more effective team behind me, and so paired me with Rosalie Hale. She was bad ass, but totally amazing at her job, and at the age of 23, I was at the top of my game, thanks to her. Rose and Emmett met at one of my shows one night, and just hit it off right away. They were so happy, it kind of made me sick.

"Bells has just been telling me that she'd give you a go if you weren't with me!" Rosalie joked, Emmett turned to me and raised both eyebrows.

"Really, Bella? Don't think you could keep up, to be honest!"

"Oh please!" I said, waving at my hand at him in disgust.

"Right are we going out or not? You've still got to work your way through your crazy fans!" Rosalie said, pushing herself off the sofa. I stood up and straightened myself out. I threw the cards and letters into a bag that was due to go back onto my bus. I could never bring myself to throw them out, when people took the time to write to me, I would always read them.

***

"Ok, Bella, you know what to do, yeah?" Rose said, handing me a sharpie, just in case I couldn't get past the crowd, a squiggle on a piece of paper was all these people wanted, and I could hardly deny them that. I rolled my eyes at her as I was surrounded by my security people. They pushed the door open and I walked out, to be greeted by screams and flash bulbs. Rosalie and Emmett were walking behind me, along with anyone else who needed to get out of the building.

I signed as much as I could as I was being rushed by the security, I felt bad when I saw people looking disappointed that I had passed them, but there was just no way of pleasing everybody. If I signed everybody's t-shirts and merchandise then I would never leave. The door of a taxi was held open for me, and I climbed in, followed by Rose and Emmett. The screaming didn't settle down, and neither did the camera flashes which so often blinded me.

"Fuck me!" Emmett exclaimed, "I only have to do that after a show, and that's only when I'm with you. How do you do that every day?"

"It's not every day, Em. Getting recognized is hardly a bad thing." I shrugged, and the taxi headed off to our destination.

***

When we got to the club, there was a group of paparazzi outside. Not that they knew I was going here, but because it was a private club and they were usually guaranteed a picture of at least one celebrity, so they would wait there until they spotted someone. Emmett and Rose climbed out of the car before me, and Emmett attempted to cover my slightly as I climbed out, but that's when the flashes started. I bent my head slightly as we walked past them and into the club, trying to keep my eyes on my feet, hoping I didn't fall over in front of all those cameras. When we got in, Emmett went to get us drinks and Rose and I went to go and sit down.

"Don't get too drunk tonight Bella, yeah? They've had more than enough to say about you in the press the last couple of weeks."

"God, Rose, I don't know how they keep getting all this shit about me, a guy walks near me and apparently I've fucked him!"

"You did!" Rose exclaimed, laughing.

"That's not the point!" I said, taking my drink from Emmett with an appreciative smile and a sexy wink.

"Talking about your extracurricular activities are we?"

I rolled my eyes and then spotted a guy at the bar on the other side of the club staring at me, "Speaking of which..." I mumbled, finished my drink quickly and stood up. I scooted past Emmett and walked the length of the club to stand by the bar. Close, but not too close to the guy.

"My sister went to see you tonight," I heard in my ear. I breathed deeply and turned around to see the guy who was staring at me earlier.

"So you want an autograph?" I sighed, disappointed.

"Oh... I didn't even think about it. I just wanted to talk to you actually."

I smiled, and he sat down on the bar stool next to me. "I'm Jake, and _you're_ gorgeous!"

I laughed, and started twirling a bit of hair on my fingers, "Hi, Jake." I held my hand out and he shook it lightly, leaning into me as he did so.

"Drink?"

I sighed, and turned my head to look at Rosalie, who at this moment was a little preoccupied with Emmett. I turned back to Jake excitedly, "A beer, please." Jake looked around at me to see who I'd been looking at.

"Do you have some kind of babysitter?" He laughed, ordering us both a beer.

"Something like that..." I breathed, "She's my manager", Jake paid for the drinks and I thanked him, hitting the necks of our bottles together.

"So, did your sister like the show?"

"I've not spoken to her..." Jake said, but he seemed to peering over my shoulder, "Umm, I think your manager might be pissed at me."

I turned my head again to see Rose's death glare, aimed at both Jake and myself, I turned back to Jake. "She's a bit... protective, doesn't want me to do anything stupid."

"And what would be classified as stupid?" Jake whispered, leaning into my ear. I took a swig from my bottle, and let my face move forward to his ear.

"Probably, what I'm about to do..."

"Wha-" I cut him off by stopping his lips with mine, moving quickly and fiercely, I opened my mouth and his tongue easily slid its way inside, exploring my mouth. I pulled away when I needed air, and Jake grinned at me stupidly.

"I don't know if I'd call that _stupid!_" he whispered huskily, and I laughed, taking another swig from my beer.

"Fancy heading back to my hotel?" I said, putting my half empty beer on the bar, "I'm having a party."

"Really?"

"Well..." I took one last, long swig from my bottle, and put it back down again. I stood up, and took his hand, "I am now." I grinned, and he followed me.

As soon as I stepped outside of the club, the flashbulbs started again. I instinctively let go of Jake's hand and rushed towards a cab, I could feel Jake behind me, and so when I climbed into the cab, he climbed in soon after. The door was still open though, so I leaned across him, and he held me by my waist as I reached out and pulled the door shut.

We were on our way, and Jake was looking out of the window awkwardly, I pulled out my phone to see 5 missed calls from Rose. I groaned loudly, and Jake turned his head to look at me, confusion written across his face.

I held the phone up to him and he nodded, smiling, while I held the phone up to my ear, having hit call. It rang once before she picked it up.

"You've just left with him haven't you?"

"So what?"

"We've gone over this Bella!"

"Oh, fuck off!" I exclaimed, and Jake and I both laughed.

"Bella, this is serious, it's not good for your reputation!"

"We'll worry about that tomorrow, ok?" I breathed.

"Fine, but don't blame me if everything goes to shit ok? I still want my 15%!"

With that she hung up. And I shoved the phone back into my pocket.

When we got to my hotel I paid the driver and led Jake into the hotel and into the lift. As soon as the doors were shut he had me pressed against the wall, pinning my wrists against it while he kissed his way down my neck and across my collarbone. I was breathing heavily and I could feel his hot breath across my skin before his mouth came into contact with it. When the lift dinged that we were at my floor, I groaned, taking his hand and pulling him out of the lift, across the hallway to my room. I opened the door with my key card.

As soon as we were inside, hands were everywhere: his hands were in my hair, running down my neck and arms, while mine were smoothing down the planes of his chest and stomach. And that's when I felt something around his neck, under his shirt.

"Mmm... wait," I murmured into the kiss, my hands on his shoulders, attempting to break the kiss. "Jake... Oh god..." Something in me just didn't want to stop, but when my hands felt it again I pulled away completely. "Jake, stop."

We were both staring at each other in the darkness, breathing heavily and chests heaving. I stumbled in the darkness over to the light switch and was temporarily blinded by the sudden light.

"I thought this was how it worked?" Jake said, walking towards me again, his arms outstretched and landing on my hips, pulling me towards him.

"How what worked?" I whispered, desperate not to stop him, but pulling away from him again.

"Being with you, this is what you want right?"

"Wait..." I said sternly, and he seemed to smirk at my reaction. I stepped towards him and my fingers darted under his shirt collar for a moment before pulling out a lanyard, with a shiny I.D card on.

_Jacob Black_

_Celebrity Reporter_

_Stash Magazine_

"You're a fucking reporter!" I shouted, throwing his I.D back at him, he laughed loudly.

"You know what? My friend told me it would be easy, and it looks like you are, it's a surprise this hasn't happened to you before!"

"Just, get out!" I shouted, pointing at the door, but he refused to move, just stood there, smirking at me, "I'll call security, get the fuck out of my room!"

He walked towards the door, opening it slightly, but turned his head before he left, "The readers of Stash will love this."

I headed for him, but he shut the door before I could get there, and I ended up facing a closed door.

"Shit!" I shouted to myself, and slid down onto the floor.

I pulled out my phone and hit Rose's number, she answered before the first ring ended.

"What's happened?"

"I think I might have a problem."

EPOV

"Cullen, can you some in here for a second?"

I reluctantly pulled away from my desk, pushing myself up with my hands and turning towards my boss's office. I fucking hated my job. I worked at Rolling Stone magazine, which was once a massive dream of mine, but now that I was here it was just nothing like I imagined. When I was younger I wanted to be doing some proper music journalism, going to gigs and reporting back, or doing features on bands and artists, following them around on the road, finding out more about them. But here I was, doing the scheduling for some other lucky bastard to go and interview Kings of Leon.

I leaned against the doorframe of my bosses office with my arms folded across my chest.

"What's up, Carlisle?"

"Come in and sit down." He gestured to the chair in front of him, and I curiously took a seat, raising and eyebrow in question.

"Have I done something wrong?"

"Oh quite the contrary, Cullen. In fact, I've been very impressed by your work the last few years."

"Oh, thanks." I frowned, not knowing where he would be going with this.

"Look, you know we've been trying to get that Bella Swan cover story for a while, but she keeps turning it down?" I nodded slowly. I'd spent hours talking to her bitch of a manager who was less than co-operative with me, trying to figure something out. It was my only failure of the last few years working here.

"Well, seems like they're ready to do business, a bit of damage control it seems." He cocked an eyebrow at me and I smirked. I'd read on the internet the other day that she'd taken an undercover reporter back to her hotel for a "party". It was nothing new, but this time, it just happened to be the one person who could probably finish her career if he wanted.

"I want you to do the story," Carlisle said, leaning back in his chair and waiting for my reaction.

"Ok, I'll give her manager a call and sort out some sche-"

"No Edward. I want you to _write_ the story, to follow her on tour for a few weeks, and to write everything you see."

"Carlisle, are you sure? I've not written for you befo-"

"Take Alice with you."

Alice Brandon was an amazing journalist, and most of the big stories involved her in some way. If she was going to be with me, I was certain this story would be huge.

"So, Cullen, you want to do it?"

"Of course," I said eagerly, standing up and leaning across his big desk to shake his hand. He smiled broadly, before taking my hand in a firm hand shake. "Thank you Carlisle."

***

Alice and I had spoken a lot about what we wanted from the story, we both agreed on most things. First, that we wanted to find out the truth about Bella. Everyone had her pinned down as some kind of talent-less, party-girl, whore. If that was true, then we would write it, but I was hoping that we could come up with something a little bit more interesting than what everybody thought already.

As Alice and I spoke more, I began to think she may not be the best person to take. Every time I would think out loud, whether it was about Bella's past, or her music, then Alice knew the answer. It seemed she was quite the Bella Swan fan.

I'd always appreciated Bella aesthetically, she looked pretty much perfect in the magazines I often saw on the shelf in the stands, except the ones where she was falling out of a club drunk, with a new man on her arm.

I'd always wondered whether she was just the result of some amazing airbrushing, or whether she was actually as beautiful as she seemed. I'm not too proud to admit that I bought Maxim magazine a few weeks ago, _just_ because she was gracing the cover. It had provided me with hours of... entertainment. And now I was going to meet her. I'd been in contact with her manager Rosalie a few times, and although she seemed like she was still reluctant to have journalists following Bella around for a few weeks, she was co-operative.

Alice and I were due to meet Bella backstage before one of her Chicago shows, and then we would be pretty much at her side for the next three weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

EPOV

"Oh my God, Edward, I don't think I've ever been this excited!" Alice squealed as we waited at the luggage carousel in Chicago. She pulled on my arm in her eagerness and I looked down at her, she was tiny, with messy, short black hair, everything about her was small, she was like a child, or a pixie.

"Calm down, Alice, you're supposed to be the professional here remember?" I smiled at her, but she spotted her bag, pushing me forward to get it for her. Mine came shortly after so I grabbed it and we headed outside where, apparently, one of Bella's 'representatives' would be there to meet us. Sure enough when we walked out into arrivals a man was standing with a sign which read, "Cullen".

"Why isn't my name on there?" Alice whispered angrily, "Does she even know I'm coming?"

I laughed at her child like response and nudged her, "Yes she knows! I told her manager that her biggest fan _ever_ will be joining on her on the road for three weeks!"

Alice looked up at me, mortified, "You fucking better not have, Cullen!"

"Of course I didn't!" I laughed and pulled her to the guy holding the sign, who led us to a car. When we were in the car and on our way to the venue, Alice turned to me.

"I don't think I can do this Edward!"

"Do what?"

"This... I mean... what if she doesn't like me?"

"Well, then we can get a story on how she didn't like one of Rolling Stone's top music journalists! She's just a normal woman Alice, treat her like one and see how it goes."

I was trying to keep calm, but inside, I think I was more nervous than Alice. This was my first story for Rolling Stone, and they just had to give me one of the biggest fucking stories of the year. If I fucked up on this I would never be able to work again, I'd end up in a coffee shop somewhere serving people just like myself.

We pulled up outside a huge venue and I opened my door, climbing out, Alice however, stayed put. I put my hand on the seat and leaned back in.

"Alice, come on, we have to go inside."

"You can do this yourself, Edward, you don't need me. You know what they say about meeting your heroes..."

"I'll look after you, come on," I took her hand and smiled warmly; she scooted over to my side and climbed out of the car. The driver had taken our bags out and was stood by them.

"Thanks," I said, handing him a fifty as a tip, he looked at me appreciatively.

"Do you want me to take them to the bus for you?"

"Erm, you probably know more about it than I do, if that's where we're staying then yeah, go for it!" I laughed and gave him another twenty, he mumbled a thank you with a huge grin, walking off with our bags towards two huge buses. I swallowed hard and turned back towards the venue, a beautiful blonde woman walked out. She was dressed very smartly, but still with devastating beauty, she smiled wearily.

"Edward and Alice, I presume?" I nodded and she held out her hand and I took it, shaking it firmly. She moved on to Alice, who did the same. "I'm Rosalie Hale, Bella's manager, she's looking forward to meeting you. I'm assuming Eric's taken your luggage to the bus?"

"Yes he has, thank you very much," I smiled, but she still looked a little apprehensive, although, with a client like Bella Swan I'm not surprised. Bella didn't have the best reputation with the press over the past few years. "It's good to meet you," I nudged Alice who was staring up at Rosalie like she was some kind of goddess, she quickly snapped out of it.

"Yes, it's great to be here, thank you for inviting us."

Rosalie turned on her heel, motioning for us to follow her. "Well, like I said to Carlisle, Bella wants people to know she's not who they think she is. People think that she's this untalented skank," She stopped and turned to look at us, "She's really not like that."

"Can I quote you on that?" Alice asked, pulling out a note book.

"The reason we're doing this is to get the truth out there," She smiled anxiously and turned again, opening a huge door surrounded by security. We were both given security passes with the photo's we'd had to email over a couple of days ago on.

We were walking down a long corridor; I was surprised by how... mundane it all looked, not at all glamorous or glitzy. There were a few, what I suspect, were dancers milling around, they were in various stage costume, some with makeup, some not finished yet. We walked past lots of makeup rooms and costume rooms. I could hear a band tuning their instruments in the background somewhere, and there were various roadies walking around with purpose.

Finally, we stopped outside a door, which had a sign on it which simply said 'performer'. Rosalie knocked three times, and I heard a faint "Come in," from inside. Rosalie breathed deeply once, before opening the door, gesturing for us to come in.

"Breathe Alice," I whispered as she went in before me. She nodded and stepped into the room, I tried to gauge from her reaction the sight before her, but all I saw was a huge grin plastered on her face. I sighed, pushing her in further before poking my head around the door and stepping into the room properly.

"Miss Swan, it's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Edward Cullen and this is Al-"

"Alice Brandon!" Alice shouted, "My name is Alice Brandon, we're from Rolling Stone magazine."

When I finally turned my amused stare away from Alice, my eyes settled on the goddess that was Bella Swan. There was definitely, little to no airbrushing needed, she was absolutely perfect. She sat on an old looking couch, surrounded by boxes and CD's, letters and cards, smiling serenely at us both. She was in a white robe, with an orangey looking concoction of makeup on her face, appropriate for the stage, I imagined. Her hair was teased into high, voluminous curls.

"Hey... come and sit down, has anybody offered you a drink?" She moved some of the boxes and other gifts from the seats around her, Alice sat on the couch near her, and I sat on a small arm chair next to them both. Bella seemed to be focussing her attention on the little ball of energy that was Alice. I wasn't surprised, she was rather attention grabbing, but Bella and I were, as of yet, to make eye contact.

"We're fine aren't we, Edward?" Alice said, turning to look at me, and I smiled at her. I could tell it was taking all of her attention to not scream at being so close to her hero.

"Oh well, in that case!" Bella laughed and I swear I fell in love, it was the most beautiful laugh I'd ever heard, and I felt myself shiver at the sound of it. "I'm sorry I'm not properly dressed, they don't like me to get ready too early or the makeup goes all over the clothes."

"It's not a problem, really," I said, smiling, yet she still didn't look at me directly in the eye, which I thought was a little weird. She seemed to be looking right through me, "We're trying to get the whole experience... makeup transferring is part of that I suppose!" She laughed again and nodded.

"We're not going to write anything tonight..." Alice explained, looking at me for a nod, which I gave, before turning back to Bella, "Tonight we're just going to be the audience, so you can relax. Then over the next three weeks we're going to interview you a few times, and maybe your band, roadies and the like... try and build a big picture about your life."

"Yeah that sounds great... are you going to be taking pictures and stuff as well?" She looked over at Rosalie briefly before turning back to Alice, who had followed her gaze to Rosalie.

"Yes, as many as possible. Some candid shots would be great, as long as you don't mind... It just gives us a better feel about everything. They'll let people know what goes on back here."

Bella looked at Rosalie again, who gave one, curt nod. Bella turned back to Alice again, seemingly ignoring me, "Take as many as you like."

"That's great... I'd just like to thank you again, for letting us do this. It's an honour, believe me," Alice beamed at her, and it seemed that Bella gave a just as genuine smile in response.

"Well, I guess it won't be after spending three weeks on a bus with me!" She laughed, and my eyes grew wide instantly, looking at Alice who seemed to be just as shocked as I was.

"We're sharing your bus?" I enquired, hopefully seeming relaxed about it.

"Well, I figured, if you're not on the bus... you're missing half the fun, right Rose?" She grinned at Rosalie mischievously who stood, trying to seem emotionless, but I saw the corner of her lip twitch slightly, wanting to smile.

"Sounds great," I said, she looked at me this time, and I caught her eye. She seemed to stop momentarily before standing up in a rush.

"I've got to go and do warm up's... You want to come?" She looked at Alice again, who shook her head in response.

"We're the audience... relax... the next show... that's when you have to worry!" She joked and laughed, Bella looked startled for a split second before laughing with Alice. Any worries Alice had about Bella not liking her were obviously unfounded. Me on the other hand, it didn't look like she liked me.

"I guess I'll see you guys on the bus then..." She said quietly as she headed for the door. I nodded and smiled, as she held the door open for herself, "Enjoy the show," she looked at me and we stared at each other for what seemed like forever, although I'm sure it was nothing more than a few seconds. But then her face turned cold and she stalked out of the room.

"Wow..." Alice said, grinning at me like a fool, "She hates you."

"Oh, I'm glad it wasn't just me who thought that," I mumbled, running my hand through my hair, "I hardly even said anything!"

"I'm sure she'll warm to you, Edward, nobody can resist you for too long!" I cocked an eyebrow at her and she smirked at me. "Me being the anomaly obviously, but the girls in your office were awfully jealous of me for getting to work with you for a whole three weeks, especially Jane!"

"Knock it off Alice," I laughed, standing up, "That's not going to help with the article if she doesn't like me, is it?"

"Calm down, Edward, give it a few days, it'll be fine, trust me."


	3. Chapter 3

BPOV

As soon as I appeared on stage I began involuntarily looking for him. This could have been the worst idea of my life. After Jake had printed that story about me, the press had tried every trick to get me, I was so wary of everybody I met that I hardly went out after the shows anymore. A picture surfaced of Emmett and I walking into one of the venues chatting, and they'd written a story about how I was working my way around the band. I was so worried about Rose's reaction, but of course she knew better, however much Emmett and I flirted, it was always a joke, he was like my big brother. She told me to forget about it, and as hard as it was, I tried.

When Rose sat me down and spoke to me about maybe getting in contact with Rolling Stone I was apprehensive. I'd turned them down a few times in the past, not because I didn't want to be in the magazine, but I didn't think that I was good enough. Only credible musicians and superstars went on the cover, and I was worried that I wouldn't live up to it. But when Rose explained about having the reporter touring with us, to help save my reputation, I began to change my mind. I could be good, and not get myself into trouble for three weeks couldn't I? Wrong.

As soon as I saw his head poke around the door I knew I was in trouble, he was perhaps the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, and perhaps the most dangerous. Rolling Stone journalist's showed no mercy, and if I was to let myself get even as close to Edward as I wanted to, then this whole article would be a waste of time.

After my first costume change, I still hadn't spotted him, or Alice, the little pixie girl who he was working with. She was lovely, if not a little star struck, with other reporters I would suspect a little insincerity, but with her, it was all real, and kind of endearing.

I reappeared on stage after my costume change and tried to focus on both the show and searching for Edward and Alice. I strutted over to Emmett and held my mic out for us both to sing into, while doing so, I noticed a tiny woman in the audience, and next to her was Edward. My heart rate suddenly sped, but I felt instantly calmer knowing where they were, where he was. The rest of the show went amazingly well, and once again, Emmett was incredible. I thanked my band and the screaming fans before exiting the stage, handing my mic to one of the roadies with a smile. I half jogged to my dressing room, desperate to take the thick make up off my face.

"Nice one Bells," Rosalie said, "I think that went well."

"Thanks," I mumbled, scrubbing at my face, I don't know why I was so desperate tonight, but I was scrubbing so vigorously that Rosalie came and grabbed my wrists.

"Stop!" She shouted at me, "What are you doing?"

I sighed in defeat and threw myself onto the couch. "Bella? What's wrong?" I shook my head, standing up and getting changed, grabbing the bag of clothes that Rose had brought for me once again, like she did every evening.

"Nothing," I mumbled. "Good show."

There was a knock at the door, and I told whoever it was to come in. Alice poked her head around the door with a huge grin.

"You're amazing!" She clapped her hands together once and then turned to Edward who was yet to emerge from behind the door. "Wasn't she Edward?"

He stepped behind her and into the room, smiling awkwardly at me, rubbing his hand through his hair, "They're fucking loud... you know that?" I laughed quietly, he hadn't said it was good. I don't know why it bothered me, but I was desperate for his approval, for him to say that I was good, that he enjoyed it, at this moment, I didn't care about any one of the fans who had seen me tonight, I only cared about Edward's opinion, and I was shattered when he changed the subject.

"What now then?"

"Now? Well now we get you two on the bus!" Rose said with a grin, standing up and handing me another bag, which was empty. I quickly gathered up the cards and letters, stuffing them in the bag, leaving the gifts behind as I walked past both Alice and Edward and out of the door. I could feel people following me, so I was surprised when I stopped at the stage entrance, that when I turned around, Edward wasn't there.

Just as I was about to ask where he was, he came jogging down the corridor with a bag.

EPOV

She looked a little frustrated when Alice and I walked into her dressing room after the show, like her and Rosalie had some kind of altercation before we'd walked in. Alice was gushy as I expected her to be, but I decided not to embarrass her further and tried to change the subject. She wouldn't need my opinion to know that what she just did on that stage was incredible, even if she didn't write the songs, or play any of the music, her voice and the show were payment enough.

When she left to head for the bus, I let them all trail out, and just as I turned to follow them, I noticed that Bella had left all of the gifts on the table and couch in her dressing room, some of them looked like she hadn't even looked at them, I gathered up what seemed to be the best ones and put them in my bag quickly, heading down the corridor to where they had stopped.

Security quickly surrounded Bella and the rest of us, and the doors were pushed open quickly, we were met by a bright, constant light, and deafening screams. It was only once I stepped outside that I realised the light was in fact hundreds of camera flashes coming from every direction, Bella was making steady progress, signing autographs along the way until we reached the bus, once the doors were open, Bella almost ran up the stairs, we all followed quickly, and the bus pulled away once the doors were closed.

I looked around as Bella seemed to be tidying things away. It was roomy, but obviously still a little cramped, there were 4 bunks near the driver, in the middle, there was a huge couch that took up half of the space, and a wide screen T.V with various games consoles and controllers strewn about, there was a music system, 2 guitars and what seemed to be a massage chair. Further back than that was a curtained off area that I couldn't quite see into. Bella stood up quickly and looked like she may have given herself a headrush.

"Right, this is the bus... we sleep here..." She gestured towards the beds, Alice and I both nodded as she continued, "We relax or whatever here..." She spun around a little in front of the sofa, "And if you need some quiet or something, then you can come back here." She threw the curtain open and revealed another large sofa, "You can just, chill... have a chat... whatever really."

"It's great," I said with a nod, watching as Alice threw herself onto the couch in the middle of the bus.

"Obviously there are other buses, people don't usually travel with me much, the band are on another bus, and Rose switches between the two," she seemed to be a little nervous, like she was looking for approval.

"It's really great Bella." I smiled this time, hoping she would calm down slightly.

"Right... well..." Rosalie started after a few seconds of awkward silence, "DVD anyone?"

***

After the film we all went to bed, me taking the bunk above Alice and opposite Bella's, she smiled awkwardly at me before pulling her curtain closed.

When I woke up the next morning, Bella's curtain was drawn and her bed was empty, I hung myself over the edge to check Alice, she was still sleeping as well. I swung my legs over the edge and hopped down.

"There's no point in grabbing a shower here, it doesn't really work. We'll be stopping at a hotel for the night, so it'd be best to have one when we get there," I looked over to the big couch in the middle of the bus to see Bella sitting there in a t-shirt and very short shorts, her long toned legs curled beneath her as she ate some toast.

"Um... thanks," I mumbled, going into the bathroom and changing. I looked into the mirror and rubbed my eyes, roughly running my hands over my face. I brushed my teeth and sorted myself out before leaving the bathroom, seeing Bella still in the same position, a half eaten piece of toast on a plate next to her.

"You don't eat much I guess... to stay looking like that?" I gestured to her body, but she visibly tensed.

"I don't have an eating disorder," She hugged her arms around her body in a display of defence, her eyes gazing into mine intensely, "Do you think I have an eating disorder?"

I suddenly felt panicked, I already guessed that she didn't like me, and I wasn't making things any better for myself! I walked over and sat on the recliner chair, looking at her apologetically.

"No, sorry, that's not what I meant," I didn't really know what I'd meant though, "You just... you always look so amazing, I guessed you couldn't be eating like the rest of us!"

I watched as she blushed, I was surprised by her reaction, people were always telling her she was beautiful, I'd seen interviews with her.

"I work hard on stage," She smiled weakly, she then mumbled something to herself that I couldn't hear, but I decided to leave it. "Are you going to interview me today?"

"Um... no, not today. Maybe tomorrow? What've you got planned for today?"

"Well, they want to change a few of the routines, coz the stage is a little smaller here, so I have to go and check it out with the dancers, we're meeting my choreographer and tour manager there."

I nodded, genuinely interested in how touring worked, I was new to this, and so everything about it was exciting for me, even if it was boring and mundane to Bella.

"You're welcome to come, obviously," She smiled at me, "And Alice." She added, seemingly an afterthought. She seemed completely different this morning than last night when she didn't like me, it felt comfortable to sit and talk to her. I almost felt like I was intruding asking her to be the subject of my article, like I was trying to catch her out on something.

"Yeah, it sounds great..." I nodded again, before standing up, "Speaking of Alice, I better wake her up," as I started walking past Bella I saw her fidget slightly beside me, I looked down at her curiously, she looked awkward. "Everything ok?"

"Yup" She said curtly, turning her attention to the television.

***

The bus had stopped outside a large, posh hotel, and I was surprised to find that Bella's management was paying for Alice and I to stay there with them. We had separate rooms, Alice's a few doors down from mine, so it would be easy enough to talk to her about the article if need be. Bella was in a suite a few floors up, Rosalie in the room next to her. Her band and dancers were scattered around the hotel in various rooms.

When we got to the venue, Alice and I took seats up near the sound booth, watching as the choreographer ran through the show with Bella and the dancers. I was surprised at how serious Bella looked, at how she seemed to put her heart and soul into even a practice routine. I made a few notes as I watched her make her way around the significantly smaller stage.

"You ok there newbie?" Alice chimed in, hitting her pen against my head. I quickly turned my head to her and she grinned.

"I'm good, just making notes," I held up my notebook slightly in proof, "You see how seriously she takes it all?"

"You're surprised?"

"I don't know, I just guessed if you're singing somebody else's songs then you might not be as into it as people who are selling their own songs."

Alice looked at me with a smirk, which I thought was weird, I tapped her on the head with my notebook.

"What's that look for pixie?"

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough," as we saw that they had finished on stage, Alice shut her notebook with a flourish, "Guess who brought the camera?!" She grinned at me mischievously and hopped out of her seat, skipping down towards the stage. I shook my head at the retreating figure as I followed her, putting my own notebook into my bag.

When I got to the side of the stage, Alice was snapping away with her camera, catching Bella and the dancers grabbing some water and chatting with the choreographer.

"Excuse me, is she with you?" I heard a male voice at the same time I felt a hand tap my shoulder. I turned to face the voice and was met with a young looking blonde man, a stern look on his face as he eyes Alice. I suddenly felt very protective of her, ready to jump to her defence.

"Yes, her name is Alice Brandon, she's here from Rolling Stone magazine," the man looked confused for a few seconds before his eyes fell to me again.

"I thought they were sending a guy?"

"Um, yes. That's me, Edward Cullen. Alice came with me."

The man's eyes brightened visibly and he held out his hand for me to shake, which I took gingerly.

"I'm sorry, being an ass comes with the job. My name is Jasper Whitlock, I'm the tour manager. Nice to meet you Edward."

I smiled as I took my hand back from his, "No problem Mr Whitlock, nice to meet you too. The show seems to be a great success."

"Please call me Jasper, or Jazz... Mr Whitlock is my Dad!" He laughed and I joined him, I'd always hated being called Mr Cullen as well, it just brought up images of my father, not me.

"Alice!" I called, she turned and noticed Jasper, her face a little surprised as she walked over to us, looking at me expectantly, "Alice Brandon, this is Jasper Whitlock, Bella's tour manager, Jasper, this is Alice..."

"Aah Alice, you're reputation precedes you. I've read a lot of your articles, not the most complimentary about a lot of my artists!"

"Well, if I'd known you were the tour manager, I may have been a little nicer!" Alice said, making eyes at him which he returned before Bella came up to us all, breaking their eye contact.

"Hey guys!" She put both hands on one of Jasper's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek, "You've met Jazz then?" She turned to look at Alice, seemingly ignoring me again.

We both nodded, as she continued to look in Alice's direction, "We were planning on going out for some drinks later, everyone is coming, so you must come! Bring your camera!" She said, nodding towards the camera Alice was still holding.

"That sounds great!" Alice said enthusiastically, "It'll be fun to meet everyone!"

***

Later that day, Alice had gone off with Bella and Jasper to look at some possible costume changes that could be changed for the next few shows. I decided to use this time to talk to Rosalie, figuring it would be a good opportunity to get the managers perspective on the crazy, and well (some say "untruthfully") documented life of Bella Swan.

I knocked on the door of the conference room in the hotel that I knew Rosalie was using as an office, I heard her tell me to come in, and I stepped into the room to see her surrounded by papers, a laptop on the table in front of her and her iPhone next to it. Her face lit up slightly in recognition as she saw me.

"Edward," She said brightly.

"Bad time?" I said, gesturing towards the table.

"Not at all..." She waved at the table dismissively, "Welcome to my life!" She laughed as I walked towards her, she gestured to the seat next to her and I sat down comfortably.

"Would it be ok if I asked you a few questions for the article?" I said, reaching into my bag for my Dictaphone, and showing her. Her eyes glanced at it, before coming back to mine and she nodded, smiling.

"Of course. Ask away!"

"Thanks." I said, my eyes hopefully showing my genuine appreciation, after all, this article wasn't about her, she could have said no. I pressed the record and play buttons on my device at the same time and set it down on the table, equal distance between us. I saw Rosalie glance down at it slightly before turning he eyes back to mine, with a smile.

"Interview with Rosalie Hale, manager of Bella Swan." I said, for the benefit of the recording equipment, and for myself when it came time to transcribe it all.

"Rosalie, thank you for talking with me. Can you tell me what made Bella decide to do a feature in Rolling Stone after all these years?" I looked at her expectantly, but she looked calm, taking a breath before answering.

"I can't speak _for_ Bella, but I can say that, as her friend, I don't think she was ready before. The press will always write what they want to, even if it's not true. Her fans have probably had a hard time distinguishing the lies from the truth. Bella wants to set the record straight now, she knows that some things she's done are wrong, but she's not going to try and ignore them, she wants people to know everything, even if it isn't pretty. Life is a fucker sometimes, it doesn't always go how you planned."

"Are you talking about her recent run-in with Jacob Black?"

"Not just that, but it definitely includes that. The thing is, Bella is a young girl, she's lived this life since she was 15, and it's not that she doesn't appreciate all that's happened to her, but she does make mistakes. The only problem is, that her mistakes are photographed and broadcasted to the world. If I were to go out and do what she does, I'd get a few dodgy photos on facebook that I could quickly delete, but hers are all over the world in a matter of seconds, she has to live with the public scrutinising her every move."

"Does she find that side of fame difficult? The way the public perceive her? Her fans?"

"Not at all, most of the time" Rosalie shook her head, "She's let the public, her fans, believe things about her for years. Since she started out, there's been this perception of her, that she's a manufactured, talentless princess, gyrating on a stage to somebody else's music. She's never once tried to change that perception, she's let people believe what they want to, never standing up for herself, for her talent. I don't think she often thinks about other people's reaction to her, she just get's on with life."

"That perception... that's not what you see in her then?"

"Nothing like that, I'm not going to go into too much detail, if she wants to speak about it then that's up to her, but I think she's one of the most amazing young women I've ever worked with."

"What do you think your influence on her has been?"

"Well, I've only been working with her for 4 years now, it may seem like a long time in this industry, but she'd already been working hard for 4 years by the time I got to her. I hope I helped her move from that teen market to the more adult commercial demographic. I think that transgression from child to adult in the music industry is one of the most difficult things to do. To try and appeal to every spectrum of fan, but staying true to yourself. I just hope I made that easier for her."

"I've seen some internet blogs saying that it was only since you started working with her that she started being more controversial, doing the more risqué shoots. That Maxim shoot comes to mind."

"To be honest, she'd had that Maxim shoot lined up before I met her, it was contractual so she followed through with it. I thought that in trying to seem more adult, that she might alienate the younger fans, but she enjoyed it, she enjoyed the positive reception she got from it. And well, why wouldn't she? She looks amazing in those pictures. She doesn't do those magazines very often, once a year maybe, but every year she looks better and better, she's comfortable with herself, and the readers want to see her. When they get fed up of her, she'll stop. She won't be there if she's not wanted."

"What do you think about the touring aspect of the job then? Is it something you look forward to?"

"I'm not a huge fan to be honest. I prefer to be at a desk, when we're on tour, it's more of an organised chaos, it's hard to keep things together if I'm in a different state every day. But seeing Bella's face when she's come off stage, hearing the fans wanting more... I love that bit. Musicians perform after all, it's their job. It's not their job to be a celebrity, that's just something that comes with it."

"That's a great point actually, not one that we hear very often, I don't think I have any other questions Rosalie." I nodded at her and she smiled warmly, "Thank you." I said as I reached over and pressed stop, putting the Dictaphone back into my bag. "That was great."

"Thank you, I hope you got something you can use, I'm not used to being interviewed!" She looked kind of nervous, but smiled nonetheless.

"I've got a lot I can use, thanks Rosalie."

"Call me Rose Edward."

I nodded and stood to leave. "I think the article will be great, you seem to know what you're doing. Bella will enjoy being interviewed by you I think."

"I'm not confident about that actually," I half laughed, turning back to look at Rosalie, "She doesn't seem to be my biggest fan."

"She's been fucked over by journalist's Edward, excuse my language. But she's worried about slipping up in front of you, she's so anxious for this to go right."

"She should just be herself."

"I think she's worried people won't like her if she does that... give her a few days. I'll let her know you're alright!" She laughed and winked. I smiled warmly and headed for the door again, I pulled it open and stood in the doorway.

"Are you coming out tonight?"

"Yeah should be, just got to finish up a few things and then I'll be there!"

"Oh yeah, sorry for interrupting!"

"Stop apologising, it was good. I needed a distraction anyway, I was so fucking bored! Back to it now though! I'll see you tonight ok?"

"Definitely, thanks again, Rose." I smiled and closed the door behind me. Heading up to my room to get a quick nap before getting ready to go out.


	4. Chapter 4

BPOV

Alice, Jasper and I got back from late from looking over the costumes, mostly because Alice was taking ridiculous pictures of me which I more than happily posed for, holding up the new costumes and pulling funny faces. Being with Alice reminded me of a time when I didn't need to think about work all the time, she was like a real friend already, and I'd only known her a day.

I hit the button in the lift repeatedly in vain, knowing it wouldn't get me anywhere faster. The doors closed and it started its ascent to my floor, I felt it slowing down, and then stop, but not at my floor. I was annoyed when the doors opened, whoever this was, wanted to go down, and I was still on my way up, but when the door opened and I saw him standing there smiling softly, I felt myself smile back.

"Going down?" He smirked. I shook my head in confusion, he was smirking? Is that appropriate behaviour for a journalist? But to be honest, I didn't care, whatever he was doing, it was hot.

"Um... no actually, I need to get ready, we got back late. I'm just heading to my room."

"Oh!" His eyes widened in realisation, and tried to head out of the door, but it shut before he could. "It's fine, I'll just meet you there."

"Don't be silly Edward. You're basically at my room now, come in for a bit, we can go to the bar together after."

"Um..." He frowned, "Are you sure? I mean I do-"

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't sure, I won't be long, come on..." The doors opened, and I took his hand quickly, leading him down the corridor to my door. I let go of his hand as I opened the door and walked inside, he followed behind me and I heard him intake a huge breath.

"Jesus..." I turned and he was staring wide eyed at my room, "This is amazing."

I looked around the room and shrugged, it was nothing special. I'd had some amazing rooms in other hotels around the world, this one was mediocre to say the least.

"It's not bad."

"Not bad? Are you joking? I could work for 30 years and still not be able to afford a night in this place!"

I laughed and gestured towards a little couch in the corner of the room. "Take a seat, I'm just gonna get changed and then we can head off. 10 minutes tops."

"No problem." He said as he flopped down onto the couch. I pulled out an Oscar de la Renta dress and pulled my t-shirt over my head. I heard Edward clear his throat and I turned to look at him, holding my dress in my hands, ready to slip it on over my head.

"Everything ok?"

He coughed again slightly and looked at me out of the corner of his eye, "Yup..."

I nodded slightly and frowned, pulling the dress over my head and straightening it out just above my knees. It was a cream coloured Grecian dress with gold detailing that came about mid thigh. I pulled off my jeans quickly, grabbing some gladiator flats from my closet and putting them on. I headed over to the mirror and pulled my hair out of the messy bun I'd had it in all day, my hair fell in loose curls around my face and I was pleased that it wouldn't need any styling, I sprayed it with hairspray before pulling out my make up bag.

"So, I interviewed Rose today..." Edward said, leaning forward on the couch towards me slightly.

"Rose? Did she let you call her that?" I raised my eyebrow in question while blackening up my eyes with black khol eyeliner, smudging it out to the sides to make my eyes look bigger, adding lots of mascara.

"Yeah..."

"Wow... she never lets people call her Rose, you must have impressed her!" I brushed some blusher along my cheek bones and pulled out some dark pink lippy, dragging it over my lips before pouting and popping my lips. Standing up and shaking out my hair with my fingers.

"Let's go Eddie!"

He laughed and stood up. "You call me Eddie again and the article might not be quite as complimentary as I intend it to be!"

I linked my arm through his and grabbed my Chanel purse as we left the room. "It's going to be complimentary? You know that already?"

"I'm not here to make you look the villain Bella, if that's what you are then I'll write it, but I would never come with the intention of ruining your career." The look in his eyes was so sincere, so honest, that I just wanted to jump him right in that corridor.

"You seem alright you know? For a reporter anyway!" I laughed and pulled him into the lift, hitting the button to go down.

***

When we got to the bar I was pleasantly surprised to see no photographers standing around outside. Edward walked behind me as we entered, and I quickly found everyone, sitting myself down next to Emmett and kissing him on the cheek. Edward glanced around the table, meeting Rosalie's eyes and smiling warmly before sitting next to Alice who was talking animatedly to Jasper.

"Right well, everyone, the newbies are Edward and Alice, they're from Rolling Stone, some of you might have met them already but I just want you all to be accommodating ok? Edward, Alice, these guys are my band, Dave, Jack, Darren, Andy... and this one's Emmett." I said bumping shoulders with his huge frame. I tried to keep my eyes away from Edward, worried that with a little alcohol in my system I might show myself up in front of him.

"The other guys are my dancers and other members of the crew, I'd go through them all but we'd be here all night, I'm sure you'll meet them all later!"

Edward and Alice quickly said their hellos, and a waitress came over to take our orders.

The drinks were flowing all night, and Alice was putting her camera to good use, snapping pictures of everyone in their inebriated states. She got some hilarious photos of myself and Emmett doing shots, with Rosalie looking unimpressed behind us. At one point I walked over to Edward to pose for a photo with him, but he pulled away slightly, wincing.

"I don't think the readers will be interested in seeing me." He grinned, but as I walked away I couldn't help but feel a pang of rejection.

When I felt tipsy enough I decided it would be best to call it a night. It would be best if my first night out with the journalists didn't result in me going back to my hotel with a stranger, and so I got up onto my feet unsteadily, even though I was in flat shoes.

"Right everyone, I'm off, got a show tomorrow!" My friends jeered and Emmett stood up next to me, pulling me into his side.

"Hey hey... she's being responsible! Let's be supportive!" He laughed loudly and sat back down again, I huffed in annoyance and headed away from the table when I felt and a hand grip my wrist, I turned around and was met with Rose who was smiling.

"I'm so proud of you!" She grinned and hugged me, pulling me close. "I'll come back with you."

"What about Em?"

"He knows where to find me," She winked and I frowned in disgust, letting her pull me out of the bar, I stole a glance behind me to see Alice and Edward in deep conversation. Not even noticing that I was leaving. I sighed deeply.

EPOV

I left soon after Bella, I'd asked Alice whether she wanted to come with me, but she seemed to be deep in conversation with Jasper. When Bella had left, she hadn't even turned to say goodbye to me, I figured that after our little exchange today she might have decided that I wasn't a normal leech of a journalist, but as soon as we got to the bar, she again, seemed to ignore me.

When she'd told me to go back to her room before we went out, I guessed that she would get ready in the bathroom or something. But she stood about 10 yards away from me getting changed. I had to shift in my seat to readjust myself, but I think I got away with it as she didn't take it any further. As soon as she took her top off though my mind was cast back to those photoshoots I'd been talking about with Rosalie earlier. Every image went through my head and I was becoming even more uncomfortable in my skinny jeans.

I left the club and decided to walk back to the hotel as it was only 5 minutes away. I shoved my hands deep in my pockets as I entered the hotel that I felt totally uncomfortable in, I didn't fit in places like this, I didn't think I ever would, it was just... beyond me.

***

The next morning I woke up to my phone ringing. I looked at the caller I.D to see Alice's name, I groaned slightly, knowing that she was indeed a morning person, as well as an afternoon person, _and_ an evening person.

"Hello Alice."

"Edwaaaard!" She giggled and I groaned again, covering my tired eyes with my free hand, leaning back into the pillows. "You have to get up, busy day ahead of us!"

"Why? What are we doing?"

"We're going to the venue. You've got to do the whole experience!"

"I thought that they weren't doing much... just sound checks later on?"

"Exactly, nice and relaxing, now get up!"

"Urgh... fine Alice, I'll see you downstairs in half an hour ok?"

"Bysie Byeeee!" She sang happily down the phone.

I got ready and rushed down to meet her, where she was beaming at me.

"Why are you so happy?"

"I'm just having a great time!" She jumped up and down on the spot, clapping her hands together, "Let's go!"

We arrived at the venue and she departed from me soon after, leaving me to wander the corridors in search of something to do. I heard in the distance someone playing the piano, it was disjointed though, as if they were playing and then writing what they'd just played. I followed the sound down a long corridor and then listened again when I got to a turning, following again, as it came from the right of me. The playing was louder now, and I could hear the soft murmur of a voice singing a beautiful melody over the top. When I got to the source of the music my jaw dropped.

As I peered in through the slightly ajar door, I saw Bella sitting at a huge grand piano, paper and pencil sitting on top. There was an acoustic guitar propped up against the side of the piano and more paper there with what seemed like a hand written score on.

I didn't want it to seem like I was creeping up on her, so I cleared my throat loudly. She jumped up quickly, pushing the piano stool away from the piano and letting it fall to the floor.

"Shit!" She grumbled as she bent down to pick it up again, glancing up at me, "You scared the shit out of me Edward!"

"Sorry..." I mumbled in return, stepping into the room after pushing the door open. "I can see you're busy..." My head gestured towards the instruments and the sheet music scattered over the floor.

"Oh! Erm... well... I was just..."

"Do you write?"

"Um... yeah I guess I do..."

"And you play?" I looked at the multiple instruments in the room, "All of these?"

"Errr, not all of them..." She looked embarrassed and I frowned in confusion.

"You're not embarrassed are you?" She shook her head but refused to make eye contact with me, "Why do you let people think you sing other people's songs?"

"I don't know..." Bella mumbled, toeing the floor, "They're kind of personal, I've never been comfortable with people reading into the lyrics too much... It's easier this way."

"But... Bella you're... You're so talented... and nobody knows."

"You know." She almost whispered, eyes still trained on the floor.

"Do you want me to write it?"

"Do you want to?"

"It would be an honour to tell people how talented you are." I smiled at her encouragingly but it was wasted as she refused to look at me.

"I guess you can then."

"What are you writing?" I asked, stepping towards her as she picked up the acoustic guitar from its stand next to the piano.

"Um... nothing special, I'm just trying to work out how it goes together..." She picked up the pencil from the sheet music on the piano, before throwing it back down in frustration.

"I could help?" I offered, picking up the music and sitting down at the piano. Bella stood back and smiled at me, looking me in the eyes for the first time today.

"You can play?"

"I'm a little rusty, but I reckon I could give it a go!" I shrugged playing a simple scale with a flourish, running my fingers along the ivories.

"That would be excellent, just let me go through this a bit..."

I nodded, propping the music onto the stand in front of me and playing the notes that she'd neatly written. It was a beautiful tune, full of difficult twists and a few key changes, I chanced a glance at Bella who was strumming to herself, but I could see she was watching me out of the corner of her eyes.

"Ok I've got this down... you?" I said, pulling the stool a little closer to the piano and stretching my arms out in anticipation, she nodded and counted us in. I played first and was joined by her about 6 bars in, the music fitted together perfectly, and I'm pretty sure I felt my heart swell with pride in her, a pride I wasn't sure I should feel.

She began singing and I struggled to keep my composure, her voice was so enchanting, it was almost hypnotic, the lyrics were deep, just as all of her other songs, but now I knew that she'd written them they hit me just that little bit harder. I turned to look at her as we were playing and saw the raw emotion of the song on etched on her face. The song was full of betrayal and heartbreak, not knowing where to turn, and seeing no way out. I turned to face the keys again, determined to not play a single not incorrectly, I continued to listen intently to the lyrics. There was no light at the end of this song, there was a good catchy hook, but if people were to actually listen they would hear this was not a happy song at all.

When we finished I turned completely on the stool, staring at her as she lay her guitar back against the piano, looking embarrassed.

"You know you're incredible right?"

"You think?" She looked awkwardly at me and I smiled at her, standing up and putting my hands on her shoulders, leaning down so our faces were level. I could feel her breath fanning rapidly across my face, and I wanted nothing more than to close the gap between us and kiss her, but I knew that was unprofessional, and definitely not what she needed right now.

"Amazing," I whispered, "I'm going to make sure everybody knows," I smiled as she looked at me thoughtfully and then let go of her, hearing her sigh lightly, and letting her eyes fall to the floor again. In this moment I felt we had a real connection, like my assumptions about her not liking me were unfounded. I guessed though, that she was trying to make the article good, and that she came across in a good light.

"I have to go..." She said suddenly, grabbing the sheet music from the piano and guitar stands and almost running out of the door with a distressed look on her face. I shook my head and sighed heavily, slumping back down onto the piano stool and running my hand roughly through my hair and then down the back of my head, resting on my neck.

I walked around backstage for ages, searching the corridors for Alice, or Rosalie, or anyone I knew to be honest.

"Hey!" I heard a distinctly female voice from behind me. I turned around to see who it was and when I realised I didn't recognise the woman, I looked behind me, wondering if she'd been talking to someone else. "Don't worry, I was talking to you!"

"Oh..." I answered, leaning back against the wall as she caught up with me.

"You're Edward right?" I nodded suspiciously, "I'm Tanya, I'm one of the dancers, I was at the bar last night..."

"Oh right..." I nodded, I hadn't really mingled too much last night. Tanya was quite tall, with strawberry blonde hair in a messy pony tail. She was wearing a tight fitting tank and grey sweats, she was also carrying a water bottle in one hand but fiddling with the lid with the other. "I'm sorry, I obviously didn't get round to introducing myself properly."

"Oh it's no problem..." She said enthusiastically, "After all, you're not here to interview dancers are you?!"

I cleared my throat awkwardly and threw her a half hearted smile.

"Do you know what you're doing after the show tonight Edward?"

"Um... I'm just going back to the bus I think..." I shrugged, and her eyes lit up.

"Oh God you should totally come on our bus, we have so much fun!"

"Tanya!" I heard an annoyed voice from beside me, I turned my head sharply and saw Bella standing at the end of the corridor with her arms folded across her chest. "You said you were getting water, so leave him alone and get back to rehearsals please, we're waiting for you," she forced a laugh at the end to make herself seem friendlier, but it was awkward and mistimed. Tanya held her hand up to wave to me quickly before jogging back up the corridor towards Bella who was looking at me over Tanya's shoulder. Tanya passed Bella and was quickly out of site, but Bella continued to stare me down until I felt the need to speak.

"I'm sorry I ke-"

But she turned quickly and followed Tanya back to their rehearsals. I groaned to myself in frustration, thinking I might have blown it once again. I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor. I ran my hand down my face roughly and then reached into my bag, pulling out my notebook, I grabbed a pen and started writing.

_While walking around aimlessly backstage I stumbled across a rather gifted musician, after following the music, I walked into a room filled with beautiful music, and an even more beautiful composer. Bella Swan was sitting at the huge grand piano, her fingers dancing across the ivories with an ease matched only by the masters, her voice swirled around the room, dazing everything in its wake into an almost dream like state._ _After first startling her with my presence, she confessed to me that she in fact, wrote all of her own music, her own lyrics, and could indeed play multiple instruments._

_But why does she not want people to know this? "The lyrics are too personal", and indeed looking back on it now, how did anyone ever deny that she was a gifted musician? The songs that we, as the buying public believed were written for her by various songwriters are the epitome of Bella. 'Mistake', 'Flash' and 'Let heartbreak take over' three in a long list of autobiographical songs, if there was one thing that I was aiming for when taking up this project, it was to show the infamous Bella Swan in a new light, and by finding out that she is, indeed one of the most talented singer songwriters of her generation, it fills me with a sense of pride, matched only by the pride I felt when joining the institution which is Rolling Stone magazine._

_After discussing with Bella whether I could write about what I'd seen, she confessed to me that she was in the process of writing a song, but could not tell how it would sound because she had no recording equipment with her. Sensing a damsel in distress moment, I gallantly took to the piano and proceeded to play this beautiful woman's music back to her while she played the acoustic guitar and sang. There are not many moments in a man's life that he will admit to feeling completely inferior to a woman, but this was mine. As I sat playing through her series of notes, I couldn't help but admire the divinity standing next to me, bearing her soul t-_

"Edward! What are you doing on the floor? They're all starting to get ready now, you'll get trampled, you better come in here!" I was startled from my intense concentration and flipped the notebook shut, looking up at Tanya with a smile before standing up and following her into a small room filled with chairs and mirrors. Various brushes and make up that I didn't understand strewn across the white surfaces. Feeling happy with myself for beginning my writing, although it was a very very rough draft, I threw myself down onto one of the chairs with a happy smile.

"You seem happy..." Tanya said, leaning across me to grab her phone from the counter.

"Oh I just started writing." I shrugged, although the sense of euphoria never left me. This was my first ever Rolling Stone feature, and it was going to be huge. "I didn't get you into trouble earlier did I?" I asked, thinking back to the look on Bella's face. With this Tanya smiled seductively and swayed over to me, her hands on the armrests either side of me, leaning into me and breathing heavily, her breath fanning across my face.

"I don't need any help getting into trouble Edward... do you?"

I looked up at her and raised both of my eyebrows, wondering how I could get out of this situation without making things awkward between us for the duration of my stay. Suddenly, came my saviour.

"Edward! Come on, we need to g-" Alice said walking into the room, not even looking up to see the scene that was playing out before her.

"You could knock for God's sake!" Tanya huffed, pushing herself up and away from me. I stood up quickly and straightened my clothes, grabbing my bag and following Alice out of the room. When we were far enough away I took Alice's arm in mine and leaned down to her ear.

"You seriously have to keep her away from me for the rest of this trip ok?"

Alice laughed and nodded, pulling me down the corridor. "No problem stud!"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her.

Alice knocked on an unfamiliar door and a voice inside told us to come in, Alice pushed the door open and I nearly choked on the cloud of hairspray and instant spray tan that lingered in the air. I waved my hand in front of my face and squinted through the vapour clouds, seeing Bella standing in an odd position in the middle of the room, spinning around on the spot slowly, flapping her arms around. One problem though... she was in her underwear, and I couldn't keep my eyes off her.

"Shit, tell me you haven't got your camera!" Bella almost begged as soon as she saw us, instantly stopping her erratic movements.

"Well, it's in my bag, but I'm not going to take a photo!" Alice laughed, Bella's tense face relaxed almost instantaneously.

I looked away from her, anywhere but at her, as soon as her eyes flicked to meet mine. I didn't want her to think I was some pervy young journalist. I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Edward's just been getting to know one of your dancers actually!"Alice laughed again, and I instantly nudged her angrily, glaring at her, before snapping my head up so I could see Bella's reaction, and she looked just as annoyed as she had in the corridor earlier.

"Mmm, yeah, Tanya said you were a 'nice bit of stuff' if I remember correctly..." She replied curtly, looking at me with nonchalance, but of course she would, I'm just a journalist there to write an article about her, she wasn't the slightest bit interested in me. I just wish I could guarantee that I could do this article without developing feelings for her... it seemed like it could be a hard task. I thought back to what I'd written earlier and instantly made a plan to bin it as soon as I got back... I sounded like a love sick little boy, not a Rolling Stone cover feature journalist.

"Yeah well..." I mumbled, clearing my throat, "I'm not here for any of that... she's not really my type anyway..."

"Oh yeah?" Bella raised an eyebrow at me over a small woman who was checking on the tan, she quickly whispered to Bella that it was dry and safe to sit down, "Thanks Angela." Bella whispered back with a smile before sitting down and letting someone else start work on her makeup. She glanced at me through the reflection in the mirror and I nodded. "Who is then?"

I blinked hard, twice. Before frowning at her in confusion. Had she seriously just asked me that? What happened to nonchalance? I guessed she was just trying to get to know me better, but I wanted to test the waters a little, so I answered as truthfully as I could without giving anything away to anybody but her.

"I like... talented girls... artistic and imaginative, girls that inspire me to do things I haven't done in a long time..." her eyes widened and locked with mine in the mirror again, I wanted so much to tear my eyes away from her, but it's like they were glued to hers.

"You mean like... I don't know... play the piano?" She said it quietly enough that nobody would know exactly what we were talking about, I smiled and nodded.

"Exactly like that."

"Well I like men who are good with organising things... I couldn't be dealing with somebody who couldn't work out the best way round Bloomingdales!" Alice laughed, not picking up on the tension in the room. Bella laughed sincerely at Alice before flashing me another quick look, then going back to ignoring me for the rest of the evening.


	5. Chapter 5

BPOV

I wasn't entirely sure if I'd heard him right when he'd said that Tanya wasn't his type, she's amazingly gorgeous, and when I first saw them together in the corridor earlier I couldn't help the jealousy surging from me. After he'd walked into the room when I'd been writing, and then stayed to help me play it through, it felt as though we shared something, but when I saw him with Tanya I thought that maybe he was just like that with all girls.

I pushed Tanya hard in our rehearsals when we got back to it, and I got the feeling she knew it was about Edward.

I shook my head hard to try and push thoughts of everything today out of my head as I got under the stage and onto the platform that would raise me up onto the stage from the floor, I could hear the title music playing loudly and lots of fans screaming wildly, I started to breathe more heavily and shut my eyes tight, but I couldn't get him out of my head. When he'd looked me in the eye after we'd played together and told me I was amazing I swear there was something in his eyes... I don't know but it just kind of mesmerised me and I couldn't stop thinking about the way those green eyes sparkled with excitement.

I turned my head quickly around from where I was crouching on my platform, hoping to catch a quick glimpse of him before I went on stage for the next 2 hours. When I turned I saw him leaning against a wall, staring at me intently with an encouraging smile. I desperately wanted to smile back, but the celebrity in me told me that I'd been caught out too many times before. Images of Jake Black ran through my mind and I scowled at the memory, then, refocusing on Edward, I saw him frown and look away... he'd thought I was scowling at him. I snapped my head back again and looked down at my hands, I was clutching my microphone so hard my knuckles were turning white and my other hand was visibly shaking, which was weird as I'd never had stage fright before in my life.

As I heard the gas pistons start to go and the platform begin to rise, I heard lots of people wishing me good luck, I fought the urge to turn and look for him, and as soon as I got on that stage I went into autopilot and put on a show... not a great one, but it was ok, the fans would never know.

I came off the stage and literally threw my microphone on the floor, rushing to get to my dressing room, I was tugging out my ear piece and storming through the corridors, the people scattered everywhere were swiftly moving out of my way as they saw my face. I felt bad because these people had done nothing wrong... I was angry at myself for allowing this to happen, I should have insisted they send Alice... on her own... nobody else, then I wouldn't be in this mess.

I pushed the door to my dressing room open angrily and heard it hit the way before swinging back shut, but I was already inside and scrubbing my make up off, making the skin angry and sore, but I wanted the pain.

"Are you ok?" I heard him say quietly, concerned. I shut my eyes slowly, berating myself for not looking around the room first before assaulting my own face. I opened them again and turned my head to see Edward sitting on a plastic chair looking through the gifts from the fans. He looked sexy, his coppery hair in disarray and stubble accentuating his strong jaw line, I shut my eyes again as I imagined that stubble scratching my face as we kissed roughly, his hands all over me and holding me in his strong arms.

"I'm fine." I answered curtly, opening my eyes again.

"People like that face... you should be careful with it," He smiled slightly but I was too wound up to reply so I just grabbed some clothes from the bag Rosalie had left me.

"Where's Rose... and Alice?" I said, throwing my top onto the floor and pulling a hoody over my head roughly.

"I have no idea... Rose went to go and meet Emmett from the stage I think... and Alice... well... I think she and Jasper might be h-"

"Oh yeah... he said something about that actually..." I was still being short with him, I was trying to make my tone lighter but it just ended up sounding even more pissed off, and every time I heard it I was getting more pissed off with myself.

"What did he say?" Edward said, staring hard at a photo album or scrapbook or something while I pulled on some jeans.

"He said she was cute... I dunno, they seemed to really like each other the othe- Look, what the fuck are you looking at?" I said angrily, storming over to him and grabbing the book from his hands.

"Do you ever look at this stuff?" He asked, standing up and looking at the book over my shoulder. I shook my head as I flicked through page after page of reviews... good reviews... of me. There were articles about my albums, about my work with charity, there were pictures of me on stage from when I was about 16, looking all doe eyed and innocent, and as I read some articles more closely I could see that these were articles about my talent, my career... not about how much I'd had to drink or who I was seen with in the street. I'd forgotten that it was possible for the press to be nice, to be complimentary... it seemed like such a long time ago that I read anything, I tried to stay away from magazines and newspapers now.

I turned my head over my shoulder and saw Edward's face close to mine, still looking down at the book. He felt me looking at him so his eyes turned up to look at me, "Some of your fans really care you know? I noticed that you never looked at any of it, so I thought I'd check it out."

I nodded discretely, my eyes still locked with his, but I could feel my eyes widening, not wanted to blink in case he went away. "A fan did this?"

He nodded, still boring holes into my eyes with his. He took it from my hands and opened it to the back page where there was a small note, in beautiful handwriting.

_Dear Bella._

_I know this is the real you. You just have to believe it yourself. Remember everything you wanted when you were like this..._

Beneath the note was a small picture, it was me in the paper after I had signed my first contract when I was 15, I was standing with a huge cheesy grin on my face, standing with Felix, my first ever manager. It was nothing like the sultry poses I pulled now, but it was real.

"Who sent me this? I need to... I need to..."

"Shh Bella..." Edward said softly, taking hold of one of my shoulders gently, "You're shaking," as he said it, I looked down at myself, holding my hands out for myself, noticing I was trembling, I could feel the sting of tears in my eyes but I blinked them away before they could escape. I looked up at Edward who looked visibly concerned, holding me tightly now.

"Who sent it?" I whispered.

"There was no name." He whispered back, before letting go of me and handing me the scrap book. I took it carefully in my hands and held it to my chest.

"Thank you for giving it to me..." I murmured softly, "Do you want to go back to the bus? I'm really tired."

He nodded and we headed out of my dressing room, when we got to the doorframe however, I looked back at the room. "Wait."

I scurried back into the room and put all of the gifts into a box, resting the scrapbook on top carefully before turning back to the door where Edward was leaning, beaming at me.

"Let me take it for you." He said, his arms outstretched and I let him take the box from me. I called Rose and told her we were going to the bus, she told me she was staying on Emmett's bus, and that she'd seen Alice head out with Jasper.

Edward and I worked our way through the crowds and paparazzi, and I stopped for as many people as possible, Edward waiting patiently behind me until we reached the bus.

EPOV

When we got back to bus that evening Bella said goodnight to me quickly and went to bed, I stayed up for a bit, listening to music on my iPod before calling it a night.

When I woke up the next morning, Bella was sitting on the sofa again, I swung myself out of bed and noticed Alice wasn't with us. But the bus had been driving through the night, so where was she? I quickly got my phone out and texted her asking her where she was, but I got a text back instantaneously.

_Calm down E, in Jazz's car, a few miles in front of the bus. Chillax. A_

I sighed and threw my phone back onto the bed. Walking over to the sofa where Bella was engrossed in an old episode of Two and a Half Men, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Morning..." I mumbled, collapsing onto the sofa beside her, she turned her head to me and smiled before turning her attention back to the T.V.

"Good morning... nice sleep?"

"Urgh... would it be rude to say no?" I laughed slightly, but she turned her head to me again, amusement written all over her features.

"Definitely not... this is the worst part of touring, I'm only just getting used to it!" She giggled and reached for the remote, shutting the T.V. off and shifting her legs underneath her, turning her entire body to me.

"What?" I said questioningly, running my hand through me hair.

"When are you going to interview me?"

My eyes widened at her eagerness. "Well I thought you might want to wait... we can do it now if you want? I just want you to be comfortable..."

"Edward, you're asking me a few questions, we're not having sex!" She laughed, but then stopped abruptly, looking down at her hands... "Er... I mean... I'm quite happy to do it now... the interview!"

I shook my head, trying to shake images of Bella and I writing against each other, hot, naked and covered in sweat... I stood up quickly and walked over to my bag, pulling out my Dictaphone, and walking back over to the couch, sitting down next to her again.

"Um... I just want it to be natural ok? Just like a conversation... that ok?" I said, pressing play and record at the same time as she nodded. "Ok... First interview with Bella Swan... _The_ Bella Swan..." I said cheekily with a smile, she laughed and leaned forward towards me slightly.

"You're starting the right way to get a second interview Edward!"

"Good to know I'm doing my job properly then!"

I let her settle down a little before starting with my questions. "So Bella, you started singing when you were a lot younger, your first single when you were 16?" She nodded so I continued, "How much have you changed since that first single?"

"Well, when I was 15 I was sneaking into bars and doing open mic nights, that's where I was "discovered", I wrote all of my own songs for those nights, but as soon as a company got hold of me they didn't like it for some reason, so I sang other people's songs. My first two albums were completely other people's songs, and to be honest, I didn't even think about it. I didn't have a business brain, but I knew that I could write my own songs. When I suggested writing my own stuff when I was 18, they decided to let me write and record one song. They would release it and see how it went, as it goes, that was more successful than any of my others so they let me write all my own stuff from then. I guess that's what's changed since the first single."

"But you didn't let people know... was that a conscious decision on your part?"

"Um... Yes, I think so. I was still young at the time, and although my music started taking a different direction than it had been heading in, I didn't want people to know that it was all down to me. The record company still wanted me to come across as a sweet teen, and I don't regret it, but I didn't want people to know that I had written those lyrics about myself and my life."

"But people have always criticised you for not writing your own material. That was one of the main things people had to say about your music, that it was amazing... but not yours. You didn't want to change that?"

"I never really thought about it too much, I mean... nobody ever asked me. If somebody had asked me, I wouldn't have lied about it. But the opportunity never arose so I didn't feel the need to address it. I knew it was me, and that's what was important to me."

"Are you nervous that after people read this, they'll know you've written all of your music since you were 18?"

"I'm looking at it from all sides, I mean... I know people will look at me differently afterwards, they'll look back on those songs and find out more about my life. I'm just waiting for people to start reading into them more... into my life and making judgements."

"You've been plagued with that since you started working with your current manager haven't you? Being judged?"

"You know what? I'm not entirely sure what happened there, I was quite happy, living under the radar, and then Rose comes along and suddenly I'm being followed by photographers. The truth is, just before I met Rosalie, I'd decided on a change anyway, I'd booked this Maxim shoot against my managers advice, but when I met Rose she just told me to do it. I wanted to do it, and she let me. Rose doesn't control my life, I've been more in charge of myself since I started working with her, and I think that's why people say the things they do. I don't have a huge P.R team behind me."

"That Maxim shoot changed your life a bit though didn't it? You started appealing to a completely different market."

"Yeah, it was crazy. I booked it for a bit of a laugh to begin with, I didn't really think anyone would even be that interested. I mean, for all anyone knew at the time, I was a teen star, a pop sensation. I think I kind of shook it up when I did that shoot, it's like people didn't realise I had a woman's body underneath all of the body glitter they used to cover me in!" She laughed, her hand resting on her collarbone just below her throat.

"What about now? Do you still enjoy shoots like that?"

"I do, yeah. I'm a lot pickier now though. I get a lot of stick in the media anyway, and to be in those magazines every month would just heighten that opinion of me, so I don't do them very often."

"Speaking of the media and public opinion of you... Do you want to talk about that?"

"Um... You know, they photograph what they see, but the situations always change. I can't control what they do, I can only control what I do. I had a run in a few months back with a journalist and that could have ruined me if I'd let it. But you know, everybody makes mistakes and I'm going to put my hands up and say I wasn't making the best decisions at the time. I've never done the rock and roll thing, but I _am_ still a young woman, and sometimes I drink too much, I can't be setting an example all of the time or I'd never learn from my mistakes."

"So you've learned something from that particular mistake then?"

"Not to trust journalists!" She laughed, "I'm being a bit more responsible now. I'm going to try and not get myself into compromising situations, but I also want people to know that I do have guys who are my friends... and some men on this planet aren't even interested in me... God forbid!" She said playfully before continuing, "Not every guy I'm pictured with is going home with me. Especially if he's dressed as a waiter... that means he's gonna be a waiter unfortunately!"

"Tell me about touring..."

"Touring is crazy! I love it, people forget, playing my music is my job. Not promotion or recording videos or doing modelling. I'm a musician, and that's what I love to do. When I get to go out there and travel, seeing people enjoying my music is exhilarating, it's what I live for. Everyone's got a song that they remember for the whole of their lives, something that reminds them of something very specific, and I want people to remember me on stage. It's where I belong."

"You're playing Madison Square Garden tomorrow night. Is it a big one for you?"

"Oh my God, you have no idea. New York is like my adopted home. I have a little apartment that I stay in whenever I perform there and it just feels so right. I love playing for New York fans, it all seems so huge, but intimate at the same time. I feel like I could reach out and touch everybody if I wanted to."

"Do you have any plans for after the show? I mean, it is a huge show isn't it?"

"Is that a personal question Edward?" She laughed slightly, and I smirked back at her, before she continued, "There's a big party afterwards, I've got a few friends coming along to this one, so they're putting on some kind of bash after. You of course are invited!"

"Thank you!" I laughed, "Do you like having high profile friends coming to your shows?"

"I've never really thought about it. They're my friends you know? It means the show gets publicised even more because photographers always know where everybody's going to be, but when we get away from them it's just a normal night out with my friends!"

"I don't think any night with you would be normal Bella!"

Bella laughed and then leaned forward, reaching for the Dictaphone and turning it off. "It's anything but!"

"I think we can call it a day" I said, taking the Dictaphone from her hand and putting it back into my bag, "Thank you for that, it was really great."

"Really? You're not going to use all of that are you? There was a lot of it!"

"Oh... no." I said, sitting back down beside her again, "It's more of an observation piece, but I'll quote you quite a lot, people will want to know what you have to say." Bella nodded and then flicked the T.V. on again, and we both settled into the rest of the journey watching it together companionably.

***

The entirety of the next day was spent on the bus, travelling to New York, Bella and I spent a lot of that time talking and getting to know each other more. I learned that she grew up in a small town called Forks in Washington with her father Charlie and mother Renee, her father wasn't pleased with her decision to be a musician, and they hadn't spoken in years. Renee would pass on his greetings but Bella always knew he hadn't said anything.

We stopped every few hours to get fresh air and food supplies for the bus, Bella looked so beautiful when she was having fun, running around the service station grabbing bags of chips and drinks and new DVD's, she was laughing and getting genuinely excited about the prospect of sweets, because apparently, Rosalie wouldn't let her eat sweets because she always had too many and went a little bit mental on the sugar rush. I was looking forward to seeing it to be honest.

***

The next day we finally got to Madison Square Gardens, I'd forgotten how mad the New York traffic was, having been touring the country for the last week and a bit, but I welcomed it. Bella and I had got along well, watching T.V. and chatting, but I couldn't help but find myself glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. The way she was always focussed on whatever she was doing, even if it was just watching the screen, it was enticing to watch. Neither of us made an effort to talk, everything just seemed so natural with her, it was easy.

When we pulled up outside Bella literally ran to get off the bus and I quickly followed, seeing Alice and Jasper waiting for us at the bottom of the steps, Alice was smiling broadly and I gave her a suspicious smile and raised my eyebrow.

"Hey Alice."

"Hello newbie!" She chirped and then turned to Bella, "He didn't harass you or anything while I wasn't there?"

Bella simply shook her head and laughed before looking at me discretely out of the corner of her eye and walking off with Jasper.

"What happened? Are you two friends now?"

"Don't try and pretend that's why you left me!"

"Fine..."

"So?"

"So what, Edward?"

"What's up with you and Jasper?" I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Oh... well... you know how it is..." She wasn't going into details which I was pleased about, but I would keep an eye on her anyway, she beamed at me.

"Is Alice in love?" I sang to her, teasing. She hit my arm playfully.

"Shut it Cullen!"

We turned and followed Bella and Jasper into the backstage area, it was considerably bigger here than the other venues, and Alice got to business taking photos of roadies lugging equipment around. We walked into Bella's dressing room where she was carefully going through the box of gifts that had been left for her, she glanced up at me with a grin and I smiled back.

"What now then rock star?" Alice asked as she snapped a picture of Bella admiring her gifts.

"Erm, well we're going to do a quick sound check, then I have to go and do an acoustic session at the radio station and then someone's gonna take you to the hotel I think..." Bella said, looking at Rosalie who nodded.

"Are you staying at your apartment?" I asked, and then noticed Rosalie frowning in confusion.

"I told him Rose, in the interview."

"You've already done the interview?" Alice whined, pulling on my arm.

"No Alice, I've done _an _interview, I'll do another one, and you can be at that one ok?" I said in a hushed voice, hoping to look professional.

"Anyway, yes, I'm staying there, it'll be nice to be in my own place for a night!" Bella smiled genuinely at me, and I sensed that although she loved touring, she loved being at home, comfortable with her own things where she didn't have to worry about people watching her every move. I almost felt guilty at having to write an article about her, I suddenly had the urge to protect her, to stop people from writing about her.

***

We arrived at the radio station so that Bella could do her acoustic session. Alice was ridiculously excited to see how Bella would change her songs for an acoustic set, and I wanted to see whether she would play them herself.

We watched as she did a quick interview with the host. She spoke happily about her Madison Square Gardens show and how she was looking forward to playing a few new songs for everyone. The host started to ask her about her love life but she quickly shot him down with a witty comment about a scandal being good for her career.

Next up was her set. Alice and I sat in the little sound booth with her, just behind her so that we couldn't distract her. It was a simple set up; she was sat on a stool in front of a recording microphone with a guitar perched on her knee. She was going to play for herself. I smiled to myself.

She played two songs, and each one had me more and more shocked by her. I'd never heard any of her acoustic music before, but now I wished I'd done a little more research into this side of her rather than the tabloid version of her. I looked at Alice who was equally as shocked, her mouth slightly ajar and her eyes slightly glazed as Bella crooned her way through one of her best known songs. I'd heard this song so many times on the radio and more recently while being with her, but I'd never heard it performed with such intensity and emotion as it was in this moment.

As we were walking out of the station Bella was slightly ahead of me with Alice and Rosalie, but slowed down to walk with me.

"You're amazing..." I murmured softly.

"If you keep telling me that I might start to believe it, be careful!" Bella joked.

***

Later on we arrived back at the venue after dumping our stuff at the hotel, once again, far too classy for my liking and the fact that I lived in New York made me think it was a ridiculous waste of money to be staying in a hotel, but what the magazine wants, the magazine gets. We were sitting in the makeup room with Bella while someone was teasing her hair into high curls, clipping in a few extensions to make it look even thicker, even though I thought she looked perfect already, sans the orange stage makeup. Alice took a few pictures and we were all chatting happily. Emmett and Rosalie were leaning against the far wall and were joining in on the conversation every now and again.

We all turned around when there was a knock at the door, and there stood every man's arch nemesis.

"James!" Bella squealed and jumped up out of her seat to hug him tightly, he looked a little taken aback to begin with but smiled broadly when she pulled away, "Shit I haven't turned you orange have I?" Bella laughed, looking him over.

James Carter was a huge movie star, and not content on being the most sought after actor in Hollywood at the moment and for the last 4 years, he's also been linked with most of the world's most beautiful women. Including Bella. I tried to hide my scowl when Bella turned towards everyone with a huge grin on her face.

"Guys this is James Carter. James you've already met Rose and Emmett, but this is Alice and Edward, they're from Rolling Stone, writing an article about the hardships of touring with me!"

"Oh god poor them!" James said with a movie star smile. I just wanted to punch him so hard those veneers would fall out.

"Nice to meet you!" Alice stood up quickly and went over to shake his hand, I stood up languidly after her and repeated her action, giving him a quick nod in acknowledgment. "Do you mind if I take a picture?" Alice said, holding her camera up to him, he nodded and she quickly snapped him and Bella standing together in the doorway.

"I'm so glad you came James, come and sit down, I'm just finishing up here." Bella said excitedly as she sat back down and let Angela finish off her hair and makeup. "Did you come by yourself?"

"Oh, no, Laurent and Victoria are on their way in, they just got mobbed by the people waiting outside."

Laurent and Victoria were also actors. Victoria was very successful, but Laurent was more up and coming, it was the general consensus that he was using his connections with James and Victoria to boost his career.

"Oh I'm so excited! I haven't seen any of you guys in such a long time!" Bella said, just as Angela finished with her. Laurent and Victoria were walking down the corridor towards us all when we were on our way back to Bella's dressing room, Bella ran down the corridor to meet them, an impressive feat in the heels she was wearing.

Everyone was sat in Bella's dressing room drinking and chatting, Alice was taking the occasional photo and looking at me with a furrowed brow as I sat in the corner of the room, observing rather than participating in the conversation. This was Bella's world, she belonged with the James Carter's of the world, and so I resigned myself to that fact as I immersed myself into my role as journalist.


	6. Chapter 6

BPOV

As we were all talking in my dressing room I couldn't help but notice that Edward was on the other side of the room, sitting on a little plastic chair and looking at us all. His face gave nothing away, he looked like he was studying us to see what he could write about, but I could just tell that something was wrong.

I was so glad that James had come to the show tonight, we were really great friends. I'd met him at a charity thing a few years ago and we'd got on really well, we dated for about 3 weeks, but we both decided that we would be a lot better as friends. Though of course, according to the magazines, we'd been seeing each other for months and were already discussing moving in together. Victoria and Laurent were introduced to me through James, and we often all went out when we were all in L.A at the same time, but I hadn't been there for such a long time it was great to see them all together again.

As I was given my 10 minute call I stood up and shot Edward a little smile which he returned, although it was not nearly as enthusiastic as our recent exchanges had been. After spending that long bus journey with him, we'd really got to know each other. He'd told me that he'd actually been working at Rolling Stone for years, but this was his first article. He told me about growing up with his family, his Dad was a renowned surgeon and his Mom owned an interior design company. I listened to everything he said so intently, I found myself just staring at him, getting lost in his eyes as he spoke to me about his passion for writing and how he'd once wanted to be a musician, but hated the stage so swiftly changed his mind.

I said goodbye to James, Victoria and Laurent as they were taken to their seats, and then left my dressing room to make my way to the stage. I knew that Edward and Alice were behind me, and my heart was thumping just thinking about it. I took my microphone from the little stand and swiftly turned to face them both, my hair flicking over my shoulder as I moved, but all I saw was Edward's retreating figure walking down the corridor. I must have done something wrong.

"Bella, you have to get ready, you have 20 seconds," one of the roadies reminded me. I nodded, still watching Edward. I quickly looked at Alice questioningly.

"I have no idea..." she said, shrugging. I frowned and looked at him again as he reached a door and threw it open, walking through it before slamming the door behind him.

"7 seconds Bella, what are you doing?!" The roadie sounded panicked.

"Shit!" I said and dashed to the platform, getting there 1 second before it shot up and revealed me to the crowd. Once I was up there, lights on me, I froze. The music was playing, and I'd missed my cue. The dancers started around me but I just stood there, staring out into the crowd who were still screaming, obviously not noticing my blatant cock up.

I heard the music change and started at the bridge, singing quietly into my microphone, still dazed, my eyes wide and barely making the dance moves. If I was watching this I would have demanded a refund, I had to do better than this. Just as the first chorus ended, I caught sight of Tanya's strawberry blonde tresses whipping around nearby, doing some impressive dance moves. I smiled inwardly, knowing that Edward had said he wasn't interested in her, and then was determined to make it through this show.

At the first costume change there were people all fussing around me tugging at my clothes and pulling others on, I just had to stand there.

"What the fuck happened?" I heard Rosalie bark at me.

"Where's Edward? What's wrong with him?" I know I sounded panicked and the look of concern in Rosalie's was evident.

"Oh Bella you haven't..."

"No! Is he ok?" I answered back angrily. I whipped my head around to Alice and she nodded quickly, running off in the direction he'd gone.

After I was dressed I was pushed back onto the stage, Alice was yet to return with Edward, but I tried my best to take my mind off it and focus on the show. Madison Square Gardens was a huge deal and at the moment I was ruining it.

As I was making my way to the back of the stage I chanced a glance to the wings of the stage and saw him standing there, leaning against one of the rigs and his arms folded across his chest. I smiled broadly at him, still trying to focus on not tripping up in my huge heels and I saw him smile back at me, raising his hand in a wave, but not actually waving. Very manly apparently.

For the next part of the show I was much more relaxed, and I could feel myself settling a bit more, knowing that he was there and that he wasn't too angry with me. The next costume changed I literally sprinted to the wings were he was still standing, a lopsided smile on his beautiful face.

"Everything ok?" He had to shout over the filler music that was playing as people starting tugging my clothes from me again.

"I just needed to know you were ok..." I said, the relief evident in my voice.

"What a thing to think about when you're on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans!" He laughed and I felt myself blush slightly, although I'm sure it didn't show through the makeup that had been laid on me with a trowel earlier.

"Well..." I started, but was pushed onto another of the platforms under the stage and thrust back up in front of the audience. I carried on with the show again, thriving under the audience, knowing that Edward was still talking to me, even though I'm not sure what I'd done, or why I even cared that much. I'd noticed that since I'd met him, he'd hardly acted like a journalist, not trying to find out any juicy gossip, not asking too personal questions... but I still wasn't sure if that was all an act to get me to trust him and then get more information from me. But I didn't want to believe that of him, he was too perfect.

At the last costume change he was still stood waiting for me, but this time we didn't speak, we just stared at each other while I was getting changed. I don't think I've ever wanted someone as much in my life as I did in that moment, the way he was looking at me made me feel exposed and on fire at the same time, and left me a little dazed for when I went back onto the stage.

I came off stage that night and handed my mic to the nearest roadie. My eyes searching for him, but I couldn't see him, he wasn't there. Alice and Jasper were standing next to each other in the corner, and Rosalie met Emmett off the stage with a kiss, but no touching because he was always so sweaty after performing.

I looked around again but still didn't see him. I half jogged up to Alice who looked startled at my approach.

"Great show Bella!" She said excitedly.

"Um... Thanks..." I answered quickly. "Where's Edw-"

"Oh... erm, he said he had to go and clear his head. He said he'd meet us at the party later."

I didn't answer, only nodded as I walked away, down the corridor towards my dressing room. As I walked in James, Victoria and Laurent were waiting there for me, there was only one person I wanted to see right now, and I had no idea where he was, I didn't even have his cell number so I couldn't text him or anything. They all congratulated me on the show, and nobody mentioned my little mistake at the beginning so there was no need to explain that luckily. I got changed into my Marchesa gold strapless pleated organza dress and threw on some trust Christian Louboutins. This dress looked more at home on a red carpet than at an after show party, but this party was going to be a huge deal, there were going to be photographers and lots of celebrities who were there for the publicity, most of whom probably weren't even at the show.

I brushed through my curls and transformed them into waves, cascading down my back naturally rather than looking too over done. I removed my make up quickly and put on some more natural looking make up and then was good to go. I grabbed my clutch and led everyone out to the car that was taking us to the venue of my party.

EPOV

We had started following Bella down the corridor towards the stage, but as I was following I suddenly got the urge to spin her around and kiss her. In my struggle to stop from doing so I turned abruptly and headed back down the corridor, I was storming down that corridor, trying to push thoughts of her out of my head. I didn't belong in her world, I wrote about her world, I wasn't a part of it, and she needed to be with somebody like James.

I got to a door and pushed it open hard and let it slam behind me. The room was empty except for a few chairs and a guitar. I sat down on one of the chairs and held my head in my hands willing the thoughts of her away. I could hear the music pounding through the corridors loudly as I sat drowning in her.

I don't know how long I sat there before I heard a knock at the door, I didn't answer but the door pushed open anyway, I hadn't realised I hadn't turned the light on until I saw the light streaming through from the corridor. I looked up to see Alice who shut the door behind her and came to sit on the chair next to me.

"Edward, you have to go out there..." She said quietly.

"Why? It's just going to be the same show..." I answered languidly.

"Not for the article Edward. I think... well I think Bella needs you..." She said it as if she were uncertain of my reaction, but my head whipped up to hers automatically, focussing on her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"She froze Edward. She saw you storming off, and when she got on stage she just froze... nothing... nada. She just stood there, I thought they were going to have to stop. And then when she came off for her costume change the only thing she would say is ask where you were and if you were ok... She needs you there." Alice said it so quickly it took a little time to sink in. I sat staring at her for a little while before standing up quickly.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" I said, heading for the door, holding it open for her. We walked quickly back down towards the stage and I pushed my way through so that I could stand at the side, watching her. She was completely different tonight, something was off, but I couldn't tell what. She started heading towards the back of the stage when her eyes caught mine, I smiled and waved and saw her smile back brightly, from the point on she took her performance up a gear and was nearly on par with the other nights.

After our last encounter while she was getting changed I'd had to leave. The way we were looking at each other had me hard and I had to go and find somewhere to go and sort myself out. The look in her eyes made me think that maybe she wanted me too, but that couldn't happen while I was still writing this article, and as much as I wanted her, it's not like she was known for holding down a steady relationship, and I knew that after a night with her, I wouldn't want to just lose her. So it would be better to have nothing than to have everything and then have it taken away from you.

I left the venue and got a cab to the hotel, even though I lived in New York, the magazine told me I was stay wherever the crew were staying, which meant I was currently staying in a hotel that was only 30 minutes from my home. I hopped into the shower in said hotel room and immediately started thinking about her, meaning I had to get myself off under the streaming water, thinking about her, I thought back to her getting changed in front of me in her hotel room, and her eyes when we looked at each other earlier, I came pretty quickly after that.

I got dressed speedily and ran to get another cab to the party. When I arrived I gave my name to the bouncer who lifted the rope for me to pass, I walked past the paparazzi swiftly, knowing they weren't interested in me and I entered the party. As I walked in the music was almost deafening, there were white and blue lights adorning the ceilings and walls giving it a magical feel and there were celebrities, singers, actors, reality stars and models swarming around the place with drinks in their hands. I'd never been to a celebrity party before and so I had no idea where to even start looking for Bella and Alice. I went over to the bar and ordered a drink, forgetting it was a free bar I offered up some money but it was refused so I put it back into my pocket. I took a swig from my bottle and scanned the room quickly.

"Edward!" I heard and excited female voice from behind me, I turned around eagerly, but my face dropped when I saw Tanya, "Edward, you're here! How exciting! Let me buy you a drink!"

"It's a free bar Tanya..." I said curtly, but hopefully not too rudely, "Where's Bella?"

"Oh who cares? She was absolutely shit tonight! I hope you're going to write that in your article!"

"Tanya..." I said in a warning tone, "Where is she?"

"God, you're no fun are you?" She pouted at me slightly, but as I raised my eyebrows at her in annoyance she gestured towards the second story balcony where there was a large group of people sitting on some plush couches. I couldn't see Bella, but I could see the clear figures of Emmett, Rosalie and Alice, so I knew she wouldn't be far from there. I nodded politely to Tanya before heading up the stairs towards where they were sitting.

As I neared the top of the stairs I suddenly saw Bella stand up. She held a hand up to me gesturing for me to stop walking towards them. She said something to the group of people sitting around her and headed for me.

When she got to me she took my hand and led me toward a door at the back, she opened it and stepped inside pulling me with her and shut the door behind us.

"Good show?" I asked casually, but inside, my heart was going a hundred miles an hour.

"No it wasn't, I don't know what happened... I saw you walk away and I just... I don't know what happened!"

I looked around the room which was again lit with the white and blue fairy lights. There was one couch against one of the walls and a huge T.V. on the other.

"Bella, why are we in here?" I said, looking around with suspicion.

She didn't answer, just stepped forward toward me and put her arms around my neck, pulling me down and planting her lips on mine. I t took me a while to respond, but once I did something inside me took over. My hands grasped her hips tightly as I pulled her into me, my tongue traced her full lips and were granted entrance by Bella's eager mouth. Our tongues massaged each other's softly, and I pulled Bella's bottom lip into my mouth, sucking lightly as I heard her groan, which in return made me groan in pleasure. She started pushing me back towards the couch, and when my knees hit the side I sat down quickly, Bella straddling me quickly.

My hands quickly found her ass and started kneading it through the fabric of her dress, she pulled away from my mouth and started to kiss along my jawbone and neck.

"Bella..." I whispered, pulling her to me even harder.

"I want you so much Edward..." She said huskily as one of her hands slid down my chest in between us and rested on my crotch. Suddenly I remembered why I didn't want this to happen and caught her wrist in my hand, I looked up at her and the surprise that filled her eyes.

"No Bella," I said, my voice full of obvious regret. "This can't happen."

"Huh?" She said, leaning forward to kiss me again, but I leaned my head to the side and away from her slightly, making it impossible for her to reach unless she shifted her position.

"No Bella."

"Edward, look this isn't a problem..."

"It is Bella, we can't do this." I said sternly, taking both of her wrists now and shifting underneath her, enough so that she landed on the couch beside me and I stood up.

"I don't understand... I know you want this or you wouldn't have kissed me back!" Bella looked hurt, but I didn't want to have to explain that I was literally obsessed with her, that if I spent a night with her that I would never let her go, so I decided to go for the clincher.

"Do I have to remind you that I'm a journalist?" I said curtly, and I instantly saw the hurt in her eyes. I straightened up and took a step away from her.

"But I _know_ that if you weren't then you would... I _know_ that it's different... I _know_ that _you're_ different!"

I shut my eyes for a couple of seconds and took a few deep breaths, not trusting my voice at that moment. I opened my eyes to see Bella staring at me intently.

"I'm here to write an article Bella... and you've just proved all of America right. You've proved Jake was right." It hurt me say it, but I knew she wouldn't be able to deal with the other side of me. I walked towards the door and left quickly, leaving her sitting on the couch, not even looking behind me to check on her.

**A/N**

**Don't hate me ok? Theirs is a complicated relationship!**

**I hope you all had a great Christmas, I might update a bit quicker over the next few chapters since I'm not at Uni but don't hold me to it!**

**Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, I love hearing from you!**


	7. Chapter 7

BPOV

As I sat in the bar drinking with all of my friends and watching as they slowly got drunk I couldn't get my mind off Edward. I was constantly looking down from the balcony, watching as people were walking in following the flashes of the cameras as the paparazzi were waiting outside. Edward hadn't come in yet, it had been an hour since I'd got here, and even I was late, so he was incredibly late. Alice had said he would meet us here though so I tried to think about something else, but every time I tried to get into conversation with somebody I would find myself turning and looking towards the door again.

James was sitting close next to me but seemed to be more interested in talking to Victoria and Laurent while I made small talk with Alice who was taking the occasional photograph of everyone having a good time. Jasper was sitting next to Alice, constantly leaning towards her, hand on her knee and whispering to her. I'd never pictured them as a couple before, but now I could see it in front of me they looked like they were meant for each other.

As I finished my musings I caught a glimpse of some reddish brown hair down by the bar. I immediately turned my body in his direction, an action which seemed completely involuntary. And I was watching him, willing him to look up in my direction, I noticed Tanya creeping up behind him. I could tell that she was overtly flirting with him, but he definitely didn't look interested, he looked annoyed if anything, and as their conversation continued I could see Tanya becoming more and more disheartened. I smiled to myself, and then stopped, not wanting to believe that what I felt for Edward was anything other than my need for a healthy sexual appetite. But I knew. Deep inside I knew that he was completely different, that being with him would make me completely different.

He looked up towards the balcony but didn't seem to catch me, my heart rate sped up as he took his beer and headed towards the stairs to the balcony where we were situated. I lost sight of him in the crowd as he headed up the stairs but quickly necked my drink, putting the glass on the table more forcefully than intended in my anticipation of seeing him. When I saw his face at the top of the stairs I almost stopped breathing. I stood up immediately and held my hand up to get him to stay where he was.

"I'll be back soon ok? Just need to go and talk to somebody..." I said to Alice and Jasper who nodded. I stepped over Jasper's long legs and walked through the small crowd until I reached Edward.

When we got into the small room that I'd been told I could use in case the craziness of the evening was too much for me, he tried to make small talk but I wasn't in the mood. When I'd kissed him, I was instantly worried when he didn't respond automatically, but as his brain shifted into gear and he returned the kiss I let myself go a little. I pushed us back onto the small sofa and straddled him once he was seated.

But he stopped me.

What happened after was a blur. But I remember him telling me that he was a journalist, and that Jake Black had been right. He thought I was a slut. All this time, he was just trying to prove America right, he was trying to prove that I was exactly who everyone thought I was. He'd been pretending to care, pretending to be perfect for me, to be interested. But I still couldn't hate him, only myself for letting myself feel something real for him.

I sat in that room for a long while after Edward left me, staring at the door, waiting for him to come back in, but he didn't. I put my head in my hands, but jerked back up when there was a knock at the door and it opened a little.

"Bella?"

I sighed deeply, "Come in James."

He walked in and shut the door behind him, strutting over to the sofa and sitting down next to me.

"Why you in here on your own?"

"Um..." I panicked trying to think of an answer.

"Look it doesn't matter..." James laughed lightly, reaching into his pocket, "Wanna do something fun?"

"Definitely." I sighed again, I would do anything to take my mind off Edward right at this moment. As James pulled his hand out of his pocket he brought with it a small clear plastic bag with some white powder in it. Scratch what I just said. I would do anything other than _that_ to take my mind off Edward. "James..." I questioned as he looked up at me and grinned.

"Aw Bells, come on, don't tell me you've never tried?" He poured a little of the powder out onto the table and arranged it into a line with a credit card.

"No James I haven't. And I don't plan on starting now!" I said angrily, trying to push him away from me as I stood up, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down to the couch.

"Now now, give it a chance baby..." He handed me a rolled up $50 bill and I tried to shove it back into his hand but he held my wrist tightly, pushing it back into me. "Just try it."

"No James, I don't want to."

He took the $50 from my hand and rolled his eyes, "Look I'll show you how it's done," he leaned forward and snorted up the powder from the table in one quick sniff, sitting back up he tapped the end of his nose with his finger, making sure that there was no evidence of his activity. He offered me the bill again and I frowned at him.

"I said no James!" I let out furiously as he arranged another line for me. He turned around to look at me and leaned forward until our noses were touching.

"It's just a bit of fun..." He whispered before kissing me so forcefully that I fell back onto the couch with him on top of me, I pushed him off me and stood up abruptly, but he stood angrily and walked towards me, gripping the tops of my arms roughly and holding me. "What's with you?" He said angrily as he tried to force himself on me again, but as he did I pushed hard against him again, he stumbled back but for some stupid reason he just didn't get it and headed for me again, a furious look in his eyes. Luckily then the door opened as I screamed.

"Help!"

"Bella?!" A familiar voice was loud and panicked as I felt myself falling to the floor, my head hitting against the hard floor with a thud. I opened my eyes wide to see James running out of the door and Edward kneeling on the floor next to me. I attempted to sit up but winced as my head hurt.

"Bella are you ok?" He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me up slowly. "Shit, what the fuck happened?" He walked us over to the couch and sat down with me, not taking his arm from around me, but pulling me towards him, letting me lean my head against his chest.

"Bella you have to tell me what happened!"

"Why? You're only a reporter after all." I said sourly and immediately regretted it, pulling away from him and sitting up, leaning back against the couch. "I found out he had some interesting extracurricular activities..." I said, motioning towards the untouched line on the table and the small bag next to it, Edward's eyes opened wide in panic and I knew he thought I'd taken it, "I'm not into drugs Edward..." I rolled my eyes and saw him relax slightly, "Drink, sex and throwing myself at reporters, yes, but drugs... that's not me."

"So what happened?"

"I don't know, he got a bit annoyed and kissed me, but I pushed him off. He got really angry... I don't think he would have stopped if you didn't..." As I said it, the enormity of what had just happened hit me and my breathing hitched.

"Woah woah, it's ok Bella, you're safe." He whispered as he took me in his arms again. I started to breathe again and so leaned away, staring deeply into his eyes.

"Why did you come back?"

"Look, it's not important at the moment. Let's just get you back to your apartment ok? You've had enough excitement for one night..." I eyed him suspiciously but nodded, letting him pull me up onto my feet. He swiped the line from the table letting it settle in the air and pocketed the bag. I looked up at him questioningly.

"I'll throw it away later, but I don't want anyone thinking you had anything to do with this..."

I nodded appreciatively as we walked out of the room, he was close enough to me that I could feel his presence but not enough so that it would rouse any suspicions.

Rosalie came rushing up to me with my purse and thrust it in my hand.

"Where have you been?" She looked between Edward and me, but I didn't want her to get the wrong idea.

"Erm, I had a bit of trouble with... a _fan_." I lied but Rosalie's eyes grew wide in panic, "But Edward dealt with it, I'm fine. I just want to go back... Edward's gonna get the taxi back with me just in case... then he'll go back to the hotel."

"Shit... You'll have to tell me everything tomorrow Bella. I mean it, we can't have fans treating you like this, you look scared shitless."

"Thanks alot!" I said sarcastically, but hugged her before following Edward out of the back of the club where there were no photographers.

EPOV

Bella and I went out of the back door of the club, there were no photographers out there and we managed to jump quickly into a cab. Bella told the driver her address and we sat in silence the entire journey. I kept my eyes on my hands which were held together on my lap, trying to keep myself occupied. After I'd left Bella in that small room I'd hastily left the club, typing a quick text to Alice as I walked, telling her I was headed out and that I'd see her the next morning.

When I'd left the club, I'd stood leaning against the wall for some time, trying to decide what to do. After a little while I pushed myself off the wall and decided to walk back to the hotel, it was quite a distance, but I needed the fresh air to think. As I turned the corner I spotted a small diner and decided to grab something to eat before heading back to the hotel. As I sat eating my cheeseburger and fries I started to think about Bella and the article. I'd been totally out of order with her earlier, I knew that Jake was wrong about her, I could tell that Bella had really trusted me when she kissed me. That she'd been thinking about it before making her decision and that she thought I was different. Part of me was telling me that I should go back and tell her exactly how I felt, but that was stupid. Bella was a huge star and I'm sure people fell for her all the time, I was nothing different.

After I'd finished eating I sat wallowing in my own self pity for a little while longer before making a decision. I threw more than enough money down onto the table and rushed out of the diner, hoping that Bella would still be in the club. I walked past the group of paparazzi again and entered the club, immediately looking up to the balcony where she had been before I'd arrived earlier but I couldn't see her there. I dug my hands into my pockets and squeezed through the crowd until I reached the bottom of the stairs, I grabbed onto the railing and literally pulled myself up through the people, finally reaching the top and doing a quick scan of the people there, I saw Emmett and Rosalie sitting close together talking animatedly, I saw a few members of the band and some of the dancers, and out of the corner of my eye spotted Jasper and Alice making out... hmm. I diverted my eyes from them, noticing Laurent and Victoria lounging on the couches, but no James. No James and no Bella. My head whipped around to the room we'd been in earlier, and the door was shut. I walked over and opened it slightly, and that's when I heard Bella scream for help. James rushed her before I could get her, pushing her with force to the ground before nearly flooring me in his attempt to get out of the room quickly, I sped over to Bella, kneeling down next to her and helping her up, asking her to tell me what had happened, she didn't look injured so I didn't worry too much about the bump to her head. As I walked her over to the couch I spotted the line of what I believed was coke on the table and sighed internally, chastising myself for not noticing Bella's habit. She'd told me she didn't have an eating disorder, not that she wasn't a junkie. But then as she explained it to me, obviously noticing my internal debate about her I relaxed once I realised it wasn't hers.

I wanted to hunt James down and kill him, but that was not what Bella needed right now, so I decided to take her back to her apartment, and that's exactly where the cab had just pulled up. Bella handed the driver some money, and I was planning on just letting her get out so that I could go back to the hotel, but when she got out, she held onto her door, leaning back and looking at me.

"You're coming in aren't you?"

"Um... You want me to?"

Bella nodded and I breathed out heavily, pushing my door open and thanking the driver. I climbed out of the cab and walked around to Bella's side, standing back slightly as she entered the building past the doorman who smiled warmly at her. Bella turned her head to glance at me, she noticed I hadn't moved so I quickly caught up with her as she got into the elevator, I entered and stood against the opposite wall, my hands gripping the bar tightly and looking at the carpeted floor. When I'd returned to the club I'd decided that it was no longer possible for me to do the article, it would be jaded, a biased opinion, and so I was resigning. I would let Alice complete it. I didn't care about my career, but I cared about Bella's reputation. I would give Alice my interview material and tell her the direction I was going to take, in hope that she would follow in the same vein.

I knew that I needed to tell Bella this, but I wasn't sure how she would respond, especially after what had happened tonight with me first and then James.

The elevator doors opened to a beautiful apartment, I looked at the buttons on the elevator and noticed that we were in the penthouse. It was beautiful, but impersonal. I guessed this was because she didn't get to spend much time here, but I felt almost empty as I walked in. She might as well have been staying in the hotel. Bella stalked in and turned around, inviting me in.

For the first time tonight I took in what she looked like, her hair had been transformed from the high, teasing curls into more refined waves, she was wearing what looked like a very expensive gold dress which finished nicely mid thigh. The gold of the dress made her dark hair look rich and enticing, and she looked as beautiful as a superstar should.

"Bella..." I started, still standing inside the elevator.

"Edward, if you want to talk then at least come in..." Her eyes were void of emotion as she turned her back to me, walking over to a breakfast bar and removing her shoes, the dress rising up as she bent over, scandalously close to revealing her ass to me.

I breathed in deeply and took a step into the apartment. Bella turned around again, and smiled a tiny smile, if I hadn't been so mesmerised by her face I probably wouldn't have noticed.

"I'm going home tomorrow..." I whispered, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath again. I didn't hear a response, and so after 10 seconds, I opened my eyes slowly to see that Bella hadn't moved, but the smile that had graced her face slightly was now completely gone. I couldn't tell if her new expression was anger or sadness, but it made my chest ache that I had caused her either emotion.

"Bella?" I whispered, taking a tentative step towards her. It was pointless though, she was still a long way from me.

Bella nodded at me, but not looking at me at all. "Ok." She said, her voice shaky and filled with an imperceptible emotion. She turned herself again, holding onto the breakfast bar as she spoke. "You'd better just go then."

"Bella, I don-"

"Edward... If you want to leave then leave." She turned around forcefully, her hands reaching behind her to resume their position on the breakfast bar.

"I don't _want_ to leave Bella. I just... I don't think it's a good idea that I stay."

"Why's that then? Are you too good to write an article about a slut like me?" She spat, the venom in her voice tinted with what I believe was sadness.

"Don't be stupid!" I spat back instantly. She blinked with confusion and stared at me, "I can't write an article about you, not with how I f-" I stopped mid sentence, not able to express my feelings for her. "I just have to go..." I whispered, she nodded in recognition and resignation, loosening her grip on the breakfast bar and letting her arms drop to her sides.

"You're not writing the article?"

"I'll get Alice to do it."

"But you've put the work in."

"I'll give the recordings to Alice, it'll be fine."

"Your career?" She stated, thinking out loud.

"It doesn't matter."

"You mean I disgust you that much that you'll throw your career away because of it?" I couldn't answer her verbally, she looked devastated, and I felt my chest tighten again, I stared deep into her eyes, "Can you not just write with what you've got?"

"I'm giving it to Alice, Bella..."

She threw her arms up in frustration and stormed into another room, leaving me standing still a few steps from the elevator. I considered turning around and getting into it when she came back out into the main room with towels. I frowned at her in confusion.

"Well you can't go back to the hotel now, it's too late, you might as well just stay here and we'll both go back tomorrow, I have a meeting with Rosalie anyway." She smiled at me but it didn't reach her eyes, she was putting on a show.

"Bella... what are you doing?"

"I told you, it's too late to go back now. I have a spare room..."

"You don't have to..."

"But I am, so just humour me ok?"

I nodded and let her lead me into a large bedroom, for some reason, the fact that I had my own apartment, not even a twenty minute walk from this place didn't even cross my mind as I followed her. As soon as I walked in I felt more at home than I did in the main room. There was a whole wall with shelves of music and DVD's, books and memorabilia. I stared at the large media wall for a long time, before turning to Bella who was smiling at me.

"Sorry, I don't get guests in here very often, so I guessed I would use it as kind of storage..."

I shook my head at her, "It's great, you have so much stuff," I walked towards the wall and scanned the items placed haphazardly on the shelves, there was an eclectic mix of new CD's and classic vinyl's, old VHS tapes and blue ray DVD'S, there were some rare first edition books and some modern classics, along with old tour posters, gold discs and a few of her own awards.

"I didn't have anywhere else to put these..." Bella mused, picking up her two Grammy awards that I had watched her win on T.V earlier in the year.

"Seems as good a place as any!" I chuckled as she put them back down. We looked deep into each other's eyes before I felt my heart starting to pound harder, I flicked my eyes away from her and around the room.

"Right... well, your bathroom is just there-" She gestured towards a closed door on the other side of the room, "Erm... good night I guess."

"Good night." I whispered back as she left the room swiftly, I sighed deeply before turning around, noticing that she had stopped at the door way. She turned around and looked at me.

"Edward?"

"Yes Bella?"

"Thank you... for... tonight... with James."

"You know I'd never let anyone hurt you..." As it came out of my mouth my own eyes widened, and I noticed hers did too. I hadn't meant for it to come out like I was her protector or something, that I owned her and wouldn't let anything bad happen to her ever again. I would be leaving her tomorrow and not seeing her again. James could do whatever he wanted without me there, I wouldn't see either of them again. My chest ached again.

"Good night." Bella whispered quickly and shut the door swiftly behind her.

***

The next morning I woke with a start, not recognising my surroundings, but as I adjusted to the light and saw the huge media wall I remembered last night. I was going home today.

I had a quick shower and threw the previous days clothes on, I opened the bedroom door tentatively, peering out into the main room. Bella was sat on the sofa wearing a tight grey wife beater and tiny shorts, her legs were curled under her and she was watching the T.V. She looked up as I opened my door and so I pushed it open further and walked out.

"Good morning." I said, my voice still thick with sleep as I hadn't spoken yet.

"Good morning," She said brightly, with a smile that wasn't quite genuine, "There's cereal in the kitchen, help yourself."

"I'm good thanks," I replied but didn't move, just standing there outside the guest bedroom.

"I don't need to meet Rose for another hour. Are you alright staying until then or did you want to leave right away?"

"I guess I could stay..." I shrugged.

"Oh don't stress yourself Edward!" She said angrily.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"Sorry... I'm just a bit tense, ignore me. Look, come and sit down, you're making the place look untidy!" She laughed lightly.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and sat on the huge couch next to her, but not close enough to present any awkwardness. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, my eyes were quickly drawn to her long legs which seemed to stretch on for miles, especially in those ridiculous shorts. The tight wife beater she was wearing made it clear she wasn't wearing a bra and I felt myself stiffen just at the sight of her. I averted my gaze to the T.V. immediately, hoping to dispel the tent that was threatening to pitch in my jeans.

We sat for a little while in silence before Bella turned her whole body to me, adjusting herself so she was sitting cross legged in front of me. _Fuck, I can't leave her. _

"What are you going to do when you get back?"

"Um..." I paused, turning my head to look at her, purposefully staring intently into her eyes to stop myself from ogling her any further, "Just go back to scheduling I guess..."

"Scheduling?"

"Yeah... like setting up interviews and stuff, nothing exciting."

"Oh..." Her eyes darted around the room for a little while before returning to mine which had managed not to roam her body while she was distracted, "Look Edward, whatever's going on here... just... don't let it ruin your job. You told me on the bus it was always your dream to write for Rolling Stone, when you interviewed me, you should have seen the look in your eyes, it was amazing. You love it."

I nodded slowly, my eyes dropping to my hands that were resting in my lap, "Yeah I do... I just, this isn't my time I don't think..."

"You're impossible do you know that?" Bella said, laughing awkwardly, almost like you do when you're so angry you can't do anything but laugh. She pushed herself up from the sofa, unknowingly giving me a quick little glance down her top before stalking off to what I believed was her bedroom. I watched her toned legs as she walked away and shut the door behind her before turning around again and holding my head in my hands, fisting my hair roughly.

After about half an hour Bella walked out of the room in a pair of skinny jeans and a rolling stones forty licks tee, she was wearing some stupidly high heeled shoes for such a casual outfit.

"Are the heels necessary?" I joked.

"Abso-fucking-lutely!" Bella laughed and winked at me before grabbing her purse from the breakfast bar and heading for the door, "Ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be..." I sighed, realising her comment was also meant in reference to me leaving permanently.

I followed her into the elevator and stood as I had the night before, leaning back onto the bar and looking at the floor.

"How are you getting back?"

I opened my eyes wide, realising I'd not really thought this through, I hadn't arranged any way of getting home. "I need to book a flight".

"Well, did you want to stay for the show tonight and then get a late flight?"

"Bella I-"

"Please?" She offered no explanation for her wanting me to be there, just waited for a response. The elevator pinged as we reached the ground floor and we walked out. The doorman eyed us both warily as he opened the door for us and I thanked him politely. As soon as we stepped outside we were bombarded with a mass of people with contraptions in their hands... photographers.

"Shit!" Bella whispered angrily, "We're going to have to take my car, just follow me ok? Keep your head down..." I did as she said as the photographers hustled to get a good picture of us together, shouting out inappropriate questions about our relationship. I smiled and shook my head in disbelief at their insistency.

When we reached the lot Bella opened her car, a Mercedes McClaren SLR, I raised my eyebrows in appreciation as I opened the passenger door and looked at her as she started the engine.

"What?" She asked, flicking her hair out of her face.

"Nice wheels!" I joked.

"What? This car is amazing!"

"No, I meant it, this is my favourite car! I'm very impressed!"

"Oh well... let's get out of here then!" She put it into reverse and quickly whipped it round and drove away from the photographers. "For fucks sake, why are they following me? I'm not doing anything interesting!"

"Oh but they think you are!" I replied, turning around in my seat to see the cars following us.

After Bella managed to lose them, we pulled up to the hotel and Bella handed the keys to the Valet. We walked into the foyer and as I headed for the elevator Bella grabbed my arm. I stopped and turned around, looking at her quizzically.

"Are you staying for the show?"

"You really want me there?" I replied, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Of course I do." She whispered, although it was barely audible, her face brightened, "And who knows, it might be better than the shambles that was last night!"

I laughed, rolling my eyes, my hand resting on her shoulder, "I'm sure it wasn't that bad last night Bella, they've let you back for a second night after all!"

"I guess they have!" She laughed back, before her face turned serious again, "So you'll come?"

"Yes, if you want me there..."

"Well I do."

"Then I'll be there."

She nodded at me, and we both stared into each other's eyes deeply, her big brown ones exuding sadness and something else I couldn't decipher. Once again my chest started to pound so I shut my eyes momentarily before opening them again, finding Bella in the same position. She seemed to shake her head, coming out of some deep concentration and clearing her throat.

"So... I have a meeting with Rosalie." I nodded and turned my torso in the direction of the elevator before swinging it back round.

"I have a room to go to..."

"Right, yeah. Well... I'll see you later?" There was doubt in her voice, but I knew I wouldn't let her down if she wanted me there tonight.

"You will indeed, you can count on it."

We both nodded again, feeling that awkwardness again. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off her so I forced myself to look at the ground before looking back at her, "Right, I'll be off then."

"Yeah..."

"Bye Bella."

"Bye..."

We both turned from each other torturously slowly, but once our backs were turned walked swiftly away from each other.


	8. Chapter 8

BPOV

"Want to tell me what the fuck happened last night then Bella?" Rosalie demanded as I stepped into the large expanse of the conference room in the hotel. I rolled my eyes and slumped down into one of the chairs at the opposite end of the huge table that she was sitting at.

"I told you, just a bit of trouble with a fan..." I waved it off dismissively, but then heard Rosalie shut her laptop angrily.

"But that's just not true is it? Because I've had lots of people saying last night that they saw you go into the private room with Edward, he left and then James went in, only for you then to run into me on your way out with Edward... so what's the truth? I don't need this bullshit Bella, Efron would be so much easier to manage than you!"

I felt the colour drain from my face and my heartbeat sped dramatically. "I know, I'm sorry Rose, I've just... well... I've fucked things up again ok?"

"What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath to make sure I collected my thoughts before I explained everything to Rosalie. She needed to know the truth, and to be honest, she's the only person in the world I would even consider spilling my guts to.

"I thought... Well, I..." I shook my head at my inability to form a coherent sentence. "Last night, at the show, Edward stormed off, I thought I'd done something wrong, that I'd pissed him off."

"Is that why you were so spacey?"

I nodded, and swallowed hard, "I needed to know he was ok, Alice went to get him and then he watched from the side, it was better after he was there. But then he disappeared again. He came to the club later and I just... I like him Rose. Not like fucking Jake Black, or any of the others, I think I really like him, and I thought he felt the same. The way he looks at me sometimes, he gets me. But I was wrong and he left."

"You mean you kissed the reporter? Bella what's wrong with you?" Rosalie voice was hard but with a soft edge, understanding and sympathising with me, while still holding onto what was left of my integrity.

"I don't know Rose. I really thought he liked me, he kissed me back Rose! He fucking kissed me back and then just stopped and fucking left!" I ran my hand through my hair and sniffed, anticipating tears which never came. "James came in... he had coke..." I looked up at Rose whose eyes had widened infinitely, "You know I would never do it Rose, but he wouldn't listen to me, he was trying to force me, but when I said no again he tried to kiss me instead. When I said no to that as well he..."

"Please tell me he didn't Bella... tell me he didn't..." I could hear the emotion in Rose's voice, that she felt somewhat responsible, but I would never let her think that.

"Rose, please, it's not your fault. But it might have happened if Edward hadn't come back... James hit me to the floor and ran out, but Edward was there, he helped me, and that's when he took me back to mine."

"And then what?"

"Well we went back to mine, and he told me he was leaving... today."

"Oh for fuck's sake!"

"No, he's going to let Alice write the article, it's still happening, his interview recordings, just Alice writing. It's ok I think."

"It better be Bella, you can't afford to lose this."

"I know. Look, there might be some pictures of us both together from this morning as well, he stayed in the spare room last night and there was photographers outside when we left, we didn't know until we got out."

"I can deal with that, it's not a problem. What are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, my voice thick with confusion.

"Well, you like him." I nodded in response, "And now he's leaving?"

"Yeah..." I said, looking down at my hands that were clasped together in my lap, "I managed to get him to stay a bit later, he's going to watch the show, and then he's going I guess. I can't force him to like me," I shrugged.

"So you're just going to let him go?"

"There's not much else I can do. I told him last night and he flat out rejected me."

***

After my meeting with Rose we headed back to the venue and I went to sit in my dressing room. I had my guitar with me and was just sitting, strumming away when there was a knock at the door, I told whoever it was to come in, and just as I was setting my guitar against the wall, Alice walked in awkwardly, I smiled half heartedly.

"Hey Alice."

"Hi Bella!" She walked slowly towards me and sat on the small leather chair opposite the couch I was perched on.

"Is everything ok?"

"Um..." Alice's eyes which were trained on the floor looked up at mine, "Edward's told me he's leaving tonight..."

I dipped my head in acknowledgement, "I know."

"Are you sure you want me to do the article?"

"Well... you want to do it don't you?" I asked, a hint of amusement in my voice. I was certain she wouldn't want to leave.

Alice's face brightened considerably and I saw a twinkle in her eyes. "I would love to."

"Then I can't think of anyone else I'd like to do it!" I said with enthusiasm, and with that she bounded up to me and threw her arms round my neck, I complied and returned the embrace, laughing, "Anyway, I think Jasper would be heartbroken if I sent you away!"

Alice immediately withdrew from me, a sheepish look gracing her pixie like features. "Oh come on Alice, it's great, you two are great together!"

"I know, right?!" Alice said laughing.

"So..." I started awkwardly, "What did Edward say to you then?" Alice fell unceremoniously onto the couch beside me and let her head hang back in obvious annoyance before groaning.

"He doesn't think he's up to it, I tried to persuade him to just stick around, even if he doesn't want to write it, but no, he's booked himself a flight for first thing in the morning."

"He's not going until the morning?" I asked as nonchalantly as possible, given that I was desperate to know his plans.

"No, he said he wanted to stay for the show tonight and then he'll go in the morning, he's stubborn that one!"

I nodded in agreement, and then was called in to make up so we both headed down the corridor towards the hair and makeup.

When I was settled and I was being preened, Alice headed out to take photos of the crowd coming in and to get a few fan comments for the article.

"Are you ok Bella? You seem a little pre-occupied..." Angela said while she was concentrating on the curling iron in her hands.

"Mmm." I responded with a nod.

"I hear that reporter's leaving tonight, it's a shame isn't it?"

I nodded again, giving Angela the not so subtle hint that I didn't want to talk about it.

***

When I was back in my dressing room I sat down on the couch in my big, fluffy white robe and bent down to pick up my shoes. I slipped them onto my feet and secured them with the clasps without even thinking about it. I seemed to be doing everything in autopilot tonight, and although I knew the reason for it, I also knew there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

There was a knock at my door and Rosalie promptly entered followed by Emmett and Jasper.

"Hey guys..." I sighed, falling back onto the couch again.

"No no no, not again/" Rose said sternly walking over to me and pulling me to my feet, "You snap yourself out of this, there are tens of thousands of people waiting out there to see _you_, so you just go out there and do your thing!"

"I'm fine Rose, really." I said as convincingly as possible, but Rose screwed her eyes up in scrutiny at me.

"What do you think Em?"

"I think Cullen's an idiot!" Emmett replied, I snorted a laugh quickly before stifling it and looking up at Emmett, "There's my girl, come on, let's get out there!"

He held his hand out to me and we walked out towards the main backstage area. I was yet to see Edward tonight, but I never doubted that he would be there, he'd promised. I looked around just before I went to crouch on the platform, my microphone in hand, and then saw him, leaning against the wall, one legs hitched up with his foot resting against the wall, his arms folded across his chest.

"Hey." I whispered, with a tiny wave. He smiled at me in response and motioned with his head for me to get on the platform before I ruined tonight's performance as well.

I heard the beat of the music begin, and the crowd going crazy, and then the platform was thrust me up onto the stage and I started perfectly, showing no signs of the disaster that was last night.


	9. Chapter 9

EPOV

I'd decided that it was probably best that I didn't hang out backstage with Bella tonight, sighting that it would be awkward and probably distract Bella. I'd sent Alice in earlier to talk to her, after telling her that she would be taking over the article. She wasn't happy at all, and spent an hour trying to persuade me to stay, even if I was going to write it. I obviously didn't tell Alice the actual reason for me leaving, so it made my decision seem a little weak in comparison to her skills of persuasion.

As I saw Bella making her way towards the under stage platform with Emmett I secretly prayed for her to turn around and see me. I wanted her to know that I hadn't deserted her, that I was there just like I said I would be, and when she did turn around I saw the look in her eyes and I took a deep breath. Her eyes were twinkling, I wasn't sure if that was the excitement of doing the show or because I was there, but I wasn't big headed enough to believe that it was all for me. I motioned for her to get on the platform and then she started the show perfectly, like she had all the other evenings that I'd been there to witness it.

I moved from my spot against the wall to the side of the stage so that I could watch from there, she was in her element on stage and it blew my mind that she played to crowds like this every night without even thinking about it, she never looked nervous or got stage fright. If it was my I'd be shitting myself, but it was all second nature to Bella.

When she headed my way for her costume change, my heart sped up, I stepped out of everybody's way while they worked on her quickly. She looked at me and smiled whilst she was being stripped and redressed by the throng of people around her.

***

When the show was finished, Alice came up to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the dressing room.

"Alice, shouldn't we just let her sort herself out?"

"Don't be stupid, we've done this before it's fine."

She knocked on the door before opening it, I followed her inside and we were greeted by a very cheerful Bella.

"Hey!" She said as she spun around in her chair, beaming at me, "How're you?"

"I'm good thanks..." I nodded, "Really great show Bella." I added before manoeuvring around the small coffee table and sitting down on the couch, noticing her guitar leaning against the wall.

"What's up?" Bella asked, and as I looked up I saw Bella's head cocked in concern at Alice who was flailing helplessly, patting herself down.

"I've put my camera down somewhere! Shit, I'll be right back ok?" She ran out of the room and the door shut heavily behind her.

"Idiot!" I whispered laughing, looking at Bella. I stopped and turned to look at her guitar again, "You been writing?"

"Oh... no. I was just playing, I was bored."

"Oh right, cool..." I answered, nodding before glancing around the room at our awkward silence.

"For fuck's sake this is stupid Edward!" Bella said angrily, getting up from her chair, "It is possible to have a conversation with me is it not?"

"Of course it is!"

"Well why is this so hard then?"

"I don't know..." I confessed with a shrug, but I knew inside it was because I was desperate not to leave her.

"Look, Edward, I don't kn-"

"GOT IT!" Alice shouted in relief, storming through the door, her camera held high in the air like a trophy.

I saw Bella sigh and I looked apologetically at her as she turned to find her dress that she would be wearing to tonight's after show party.

She went into a small room just off from her dressing room, and when she re-emerged she was in what I believed to be a layered dress, the top was grey and looked like a jersey wife beater and the skirt was gold chiffon, there was wide gold silk belt connecting the two.

She saw me looking at her outfit and smiled, "Haute Hippie."

"Am I supposed to know what that means?" I laughed incredulously.

"The designer, Haute Hippie. Ankle boots, Miu Miu, and..." She walked over to the couch where I was sitting and lifted up a leather jacket before swinging it behind her and pushing her arms through the sleeves, "Doma."

I nodded laughing again, "Thanks for the lesson in designer styling!"

"Any time!" Bella laughed in response

***

We all headed out to tonight's after party, another club this time, but even more photographers. As Bella posed for few shots Rosalie grabbed my arm, pulling me into the club.

"You're going to want to stay away from them," I turned to look at her, my brow furrowed with confusion, "It seems after this morning they're all very interested in you."

I thought back to this morning and remembered the many photographers outside Bella's apartment building. I really didn't think that they would assume we were together, but I guess as we were both leaving her apartment together, getting into her car together, and heading into the same hotel together they were bound to jump to conclusions. I nodded at Rosalie and headed to the bar to get a drink. I was soon joined by Bella who ordered herself a Jack and Coke, the barman refusing her money, she turned to look at me and smiled smugly.

"Must be the... Hot Hipster?" I questioned, knowing I couldn't remember the name of the brand of her dress. She laughed, taking a sip of her drink through a straw.

"Haute Hippie!" She corrected, "What an awful memory you have!"

We looked at each other for a few seconds before I turned my attention back to my beer, clearing my throat to ignore the tension.

"Look, Edward, I'm sorry I'm doing this to you..." Bella said sincerely. I turned to look at her and opened my mouth to speak but she beat me to it. "I can tell the magazine it was my fault, that you should be allowed to do another article. My... wrong decisions... shouldn't ruin your career."

I shook my head at her, "No Bella, it's not necessary, really. Please, you don't understand."

"Then make me understand Edward," She pleaded.

I looked around at the heaving club and saw a deserted corner, it was dark and empty so I gestured to it, and Bella and I headed for it.

When we got there, Bella leaned against the wall and I stood close, in front of her, her floral perfume filling my senses. "It wasn't just you who made a wrong decision ok?"

"I don't get what you mean..." Bella said, shaking her head in confusion. So I took one of her hands in mine before leaning forward slowly, I heard Bella's breathing hitch just before I pressed my lips softly to hers. Our lips moved slowly, neither wanting it to end, I felt her tongue move out and stroke across my bottom lip, begging for access, but I sighed as I pulled away.

"It's not just you ok?" I repeated. Bella frowned at me, I released her hand and turned to leave, "Bye, Bella." I said emotionlessly as I left the club. The photographers were shouting at me, asking me questions about my 'steamy night' with Bella in her apartment. I kept my eyes down and hopped into a waiting cab, going back to the hotel to pack my things for the morning flight.


	10. Chapter 10

BPOV

I'd thought about him every day since that night in New York. I could hardly believe it when he leant down to kiss me, I didn't think it was real at first so it took me a few seconds to respond, but when I did it was magical, like something out of a fairy tale. And then he just left me with no other explanation than "It's not just you, ok?" I swear men are the most difficult creatures on the planet!

It had been 3 weeks since he'd left now, Alice was still with us, because Jasper didn't want her to leave, and I knew that she was in contact with Edward every day, but she said nothing about it. When her phone rang she would head out of the room with a notebook and then come back in with a couple of pages worth of notes.

She had interviewed me a few times, and although she was really very good, our conversation didn't come as easy and fluidly as it had with Edward and I. The questions seemed more like they were prying, and no longer like a conversation. Alice seemed to be working from a list of questions as well, which Edward hadn't felt the need to do.

It was the last night of the tour tonight, and after 8 weeks on the road I was completely ready to just collapse. Alice had only been with us for 3 weeks, so she didn't have the same fatigue that everybody else in the crew seemed to have.

After this show I would get a few days off and then I'd head back to New York to do the cover shoot for Rolling Stone. Alice was beyond excited about it, saying that I would 'make a great cover'. When she mentioned that the offices were in New York I nonchalantly asked where Edward had flown to if he lived and worked in New York. He'd never mentioned living in New York while we were there, and if he lived there, then there was no reason to get a flight anywhere. Alice had told me he was going to stay with his parents for while, and I decided not to delve any deeper, for fear that my heart would combust just thinking about him.

***

I had a good couple of days off after the tour finished. I turned my phone off and just hung out with my friends in Miami. I lay by the pool, topping up my nonexistent tan and reading, trying anything other than thinking about Edward. But every now and again he would appear in my thoughts for absolutely no reason. Alice had agreed to meet me at the JFK and take me to the photo shoot which was in the glamorous location of the Rolling Stone offices. She mentioned to me that Edward hadn't returned back to work yet, and I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to see him.

When I arrived in New York I scanned the crowd quickly, my eyes falling on Alice and heading straight for her, she pushed her way through the crowd and got us both into my car. My driver, Seth was at the wheel and greeted me with a cheerful 'Good Morning'. I returned the sentiment and slumped down in my seat for the rest of the journey while Alice told me about her and Jasper. Apparently things were going so well that they were considering moving in together into Jasper's New York penthouse.

We got to the offices and I got out of the car, we were greeted at the door by a young man who led us down the stairs into a studio. Somebody brought me a coffee while I spoke with the photographer, he wanted the shoot to be simple but sexy. The hair and makeup team were going to transform me into a rock chick, all eyeliner and messy hair, and the set would be plain, making me the focus. There was red a chaise lounge, a microphone stand with microphone, a guitar and black leather armchair resting against the wall, so I guessed they were props that would be used.

While I was being transformed, the stylist came over and showed me some of the outfits I would be wearing. The first was gold sequined mini dress by a designer called Preen, which I loved, she showed me the wet look leggings and the Christian Laboutins I would be wearing with it and I nodded in approval. The next was a red and black plaid playsuit which would be worn with black Manolo platform ankle boots. The third a vintage Guns'n'Roses tee which was similar to one I already owned, and some black skinny jeans, with the same Manolo's. The forth outfit wasn't really worth talking about as it hardly existed. Apparently, to make sure as many people bought the issue as possible, I needed to appeal to all of my demographics, so the fourth outfit was a tight white tank and white lace boy shorts, and that's it. No shoes for that outfit, just the tank and panties, but hey, I'd worn less in a photo shoot before so I wasn't too fussed by it.

After approving the outfits I turned to look in the mirror to inspect my hair and makeup, and I was hardly recognisable, Heidi, the hair and makeup lady had teased individual sections of my hair into loose twists and scrunched it all up into effortless waves, it was messy without me looking like Courtney Love. My make up was striking, staying loyal to my pale complexion, my eyes had heavy black eyeliner on that extended past my eyes, making them look more cat-like, I also had black eye shadow which had a little glitter in also. I'd noticed Heidi using some High Beam, and it make my upper cheek bones sparkle with a beautiful pearl colour, my lips were a matt nude colour because of the heavy eye makeup, and to say I was impressed was an understatement.

"Wow this is amazing!" I said, leaning into the mirror to inspect myself more thoroughly, I turned around in my chair to look at Heidi, "You're amazing, can I take you home?" I joked, as Alice came rushing up to me.

"Oh wow look at you!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me upright, "You look H-O-T!"

"Thanks!" I replied, laughing, before being pulled over to get dressed into the dress.

When I got onto the backdrop I was pleased to see it was a dark gray colour, the guitar was handed to me and I went to stand in front of the camera.

"I'm not really going to give you much direction Bella, I reckon you're pretty well experienced in photo shoots, just give me energy ok?"

I nodded and set to work posing with the guitar, sometimes just holding it, other times pretending to play it. The guitar was taken from me after I'd exhausted its use and the microphone stand was put in front of me. I instantly felt at home with a microphone in front of me and set to work posing like I was on stage, singing into the mic and playing with the stand.

I went to get changed into the playsuit and headed back onto the set, the chaise lounge had been placed in the middle, I lay down on it and posed for a while, letting the photographer get what he needed. I got up from it and then the photographer asked for the mirror ball. I hadn't seen a mirror ball anywhere but the guy who had shown us down here came round from behind a curtain with a huge one and set it down next to me. I continued to pose, leaning back onto it with my foot propped up, but I didn't like that, in another I hitched my leg up onto it, perching my beautiful Manolo ankle boots on it, and heard Alice scream that the pose made my legs look a mile long. I turned my head slightly to laugh at her and another photo was taken of that.

When I went to get changed into the tank and panties I was slightly worried about how they would have me pose, this was Rolling Stone, not Maxim, after all.

I walked back onto the set and was met with the black leather arm chair, the photographer told me to drape myself over it, so I sat on it and turned so that my legs hung over one of the arms and my elbows propped me up on the other. I chopped and changed the pose, from one leg pointed up in the air like a ballet dancer to curling up in the middle and biting my bottom lip.

When the leather chair was taken away I was given free reign, and upon Alice's request I went a little crazy, doing pirouettes and air guitar and on occasion just stopping to laugh at Alice, the photographer seemed to love it all though.

While playing with the huge mirror ball I turned to look at Alice and swear I almost collapsed, her back was turned to me as she was talking to a tall man with coppery, messy hair. I looked a little closer and noticed that it was Edward. His eyes averted her gaze and quickly glanced up at me, obviously shocked that I had noticed him. I stood, staring at him, while the photographer continued to talk to me, but I couldn't hear him. Edward's eyes were locked with my own, and Alice turned on the spot to see me staring over her shoulder at him.

I frowned at him... how could he just be there, and not even announce his arrival or anything, after how he left me? I thought that seeing him again after all this time would be the best thing, but I was just angry at him. Angry at him for leaving me with no explanation, angry at him for kissing me, angry at him for... being him.

I tore my eyes from his and looked at the photographer, "Are we done?" I asked quietly, he nodded and I almost ran off the set and quickly threw on my clothes. As I stood up from pulling my jeans on I felt a presence behind me. I looked at the mirror in front of me and saw him in it standing behind me.

I turned on the spot and stared at him, seemingly unable to speak.

"Bella..." He started, his eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't decipher.

I continued to stare at him, still too angry to form a coherent sentence.

"Bella... I'm sorry..." He looked to me for a response that I was unable to give. "I made a mistake, I shouldn't have-"

"Kissed me?" I spat, hurt that he would even bother saying it to me.

"Don't be stupid Bella..." He frowned at me, anger in his eyes, "I shouldn't have left you, I shouldn't have left... I'm sorry."

"What are you saying?"

"I needed to... Oh for fuck's sake I'm so shit at this... I really like you Bella, I have since the day I walked in on you writing that song. But you... you're this... big thing, and I'm... well I'm nothing, exactly like the magazines said."

I frowned, thinking about the media, I'd steered clear of the internet and magazines since he'd left the tour, so I had no idea what he was talking about, but if he was talking about himself, then that meant that they had spoken about him and me being together. How dare he come to my photo shoot and tell me he liked me now, if he liked me all this time then he could have fucking told me the night I kissed him. I'd laid on the table for him, all he'd had to do was admit it himself, but he didn't. And now he expected me to what? To fall into his arms and live happily ever after. I wasn't going to be taken for a mug. He told me that night that he was a journalist, and that I had proved America right about me being a slut, and I can't just forget that. However much I liked him.

"No Edward." I started, showing my stuff into my bag and grabbing my phone from the side, "Sorry, you're too late now, I gave you your chance and you threw it back at me."

I pushed past him and walked quickly past Alice, whispering a harsh goodbye to her and offering as friendly a goodbye as possible to the team I'd worked with. I left the building and got into a cab, heading for my apartment, knowing that I'd made the right decision.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N - So... who wants an update? I've had a shitty Monday so I thought what do I like to see when I've had a rubbish day...? Updates!**

**Thank you for your reviews, some have them hav really made me laugh so I appreciate them, and thank you so much for reading!**

A month and a half later and I was suffering from a never ending hangover. I'd been out nearly every night of the week since the photo shoot, leaving with different men each night, and having to parade them in front of the paparazzi on my way out each time. I didn't have any work planned so I was free to be as reckless as I wanted without worrying about the next day. Rosalie was losing her mind at me, telling me that any good that we had done with the Rolling Stone article would be ruined by my recent behaviour, but I did nothing to stop it. I was being completely self obsessed, wallowing in my own self pity and losing myself in the party scene.

I stumbled into my apartment one morning, no doubt looking an absolute state after being nicely ravaged by a lovely young man called Mike the night before, he wasn't really sure what he was doing bless him, but he got the job done. I walked over to the kitchen, kicking my shoes off as I went, I poured myself a glass of water and turned to lean on the counter, and nearly shat myself.

Rosalie was sat on my coffee table staring at me, a magazine in her hand.

"Another good night was it?" She asked angrily.

"Nothing to write home about." I joked, stepping forward towards her, but still feeling the effects of last night and stumbling slightly, having to hold myself up.

"Look at you, you can't even walk to the fucking couch!"

"I can!" I protested and proceeded to fall over on my way. I gave up and crawled to the couch before sprawling out on it. "Was there something in particular you wanted Rose?"

"In fact there was, look what landed on my desk this morning..." She threw the magazine at the sofa next to my head, but I didn't bother to look at it. I knew what it would be.

"I don't want to look at that piece of shit Rose!" I groaned, tossing it onto the floor.

"Fine. I'll go, but you have a week Bella. One week and then I'm gone. I've lost any kind of control that a manager should have, and there's no point in me being here anymore. So you sort yourself out in a week or I'm gone. And Emmett will come with me... you can bet on that."

With that she turned on her heel and left my apartment, slamming the door behind her.

The truth is. Since leaving that shoot a month and a half ago, I'd had a complete breakdown. Edward had told me that he liked me, and that he shouldn't have left me. And because I was a stubborn bitch I turned and left, not even thinking about it.

The men that I'd been with recently were, in all seriousness, making me ashamed of myself. They all knew that for some reason, I'd recently become the easiest lay in New York, and thought they'd all get a piece before I had an untimely death. I'd seen the magazines with headlines such as "Out of Control" and couldn't even remember where I was in the photographs that they were talking about. It really comes to something when you have to read a magazine to find out what you had done.

There were so many times that I just wanted to call Edward, but firstly I didn't have any way of contacting him other than knowing where he worked, and secondly, after seeing all of those recent photo's, it's very unlikely he'd be interested anymore.

I sat up slowly and glanced at the magazine that I'd discarded onto the floor. The back cover was facing up, so I couldn't even see which photo they'd used as the cover shot. They'd sent me a proof copy a few weeks ago, but I threw it in the bin before looking at it.

I continued to stare at the magazine, wondering what Alice had written, and which bits of Edward's interview she'd left in.

***

The next day I woke up, having decided to stay in and watch T.V. for the first night in a long time. I walked out of my room, rubbing my eyes to try and coax them to wake up, and they spotted the magazine which was still on the floor. That's right, I'd left it there, taunting me for the entire day and night, but I couldn't bring myself to pick it up, let alone read it. I ignored it and walked to the kitchen to get some cereal, and sat at the breakfast bar, staring at it intently. I knew what I was doing was stupid, Edward hadn't even written the damn thing so I really shouldn't be so prissy about it. I stood up abruptly and stomped over to the magazine, looking down at it with a scowl on my face. I crouched down over it, slowly, and ran my hand over the back, willing myself to turn it over. But then I was saved, my cell phone rang from my bedroom so I stood quickly and literally ran to get it. When I saw that it was Emmett I smiled brightly, running my finger over the screen to answer.

"Hey Emmett!"

"_Oh look who's sounding bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning!"_

"Alright alright!" I warned, "What's up?"

"_Honestly? Rose asked me to call you to check up on you."_

"Ah, ok. If I ever tell you a secret, can you please remind me that you are the least subtle person on the planet?"

"_Will do Bells!" _He laughed, _"So... everything good?"_

"Yes, things are good. I stayed in last night with a tub of Ben and Jerry's and True Blood on the T.V."

"_Excellent, Rose has been busting my balls about you Bells, she's worried..."_

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm trying to sort it out, I promise."

"_She told me she gave you an ultimatum?"_

"Mmm..." I replied, thinking about her words yesterday, "It's ok, I know what I need to do, but... I've just got to psyche myself up for it."

"_Do you need any help or are you good?"_

"I'm good, thanks Em. I don't reckon anyone can help me with this one, I just need to be... well... I don't know, I just need to do it."

"_Right well I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about but I'm gonna trust that you know what you're doing. Rose will be happy, and then maybe she'll be nicer to me... she's been mean Bells!" _He whined like a child, and I laughed in response, _"Anyway, have you heard the good news?"_

"Please tell me she's not fucking pregnant?!" I guessed

"_Of course not!" _Emmett laughed, _"If I accidently got her pregnant she'd cut my balls off! I was talking about Jasper actually..."_

"What about him?" I asked suspiciously.

"_Well he's only gone and proposed to Alice, and the crazy bitch said yes!"_

"No shit!" I shouted in surprise, "They've known each other for a few months!"

"_He said he knows she's the one... He's one messed up fucker. Anyway, they're having an engagement party."_

"Oh right." I replied emotionlessly, "Well I doubt I've been invited, not been the best party guest recently have I?"

"_The invitation only arrived this morning. Check your mail!"_

I sighed in resignation as I went to get my mail and was pleasantly surprised when I saw a handwritten envelope on top of the pile. I opened it quickly and let out a happy sigh down the phone which didn't go unnoticed.

"_Someone's going to the ball!"_

"Oh shut up Emmett!" I laughed as I stepped over the magazine on the floor.

"_So you'll be going with me and Rosie yeah?"_

"I don't think we should be making plans like that just yet Em. She was pretty pissed yesterday."

"_You know she'll forgive you. You should have seen her face when she read that Rolling Stone article, she was literally jumping with happiness! You look smoking on the cover as well by the way!"_

"Eh, really? I haven't looked at it yet, it's on the floor."

"_You should definitely give it a once over, looks like Edward decided to write it after all..."_

....

I pressed the end button and dropped the phone to the floor, rushing over to the floor where the magazine lay and flipping it over.

EPOV

While staying with my parents after I left Bella's tour I was constantly on the phone to Alice. Truth be told, I didn't want her writing the article. I would phone and ask for her to find out certain things, to ask certain questions in her interviews. In the end I had to tell Alice what had happened between Bella and I, and I told her that I would still write the article, but asked her not to tell Bella.

Alice would send me all of the transcripts and copies of the photo's she had been taking, so I was never far from my next Bella fix.

When the tour ended I knew I wouldn't see Bella again, and I resigned myself to the fact, so set about writing the best article I could. After a few weeks I flew back to New York, and was immediately called into a meeting with Carlisle to go through what I had so far. When I arrived at the building I headed up to Carlisle's office and showed him the first draft, and to say he was impressed would be an understatement. He was proud that I had managed to see a Bella Swan that the world didn't know, and my revelation about her writing her own songs was like gold dust apparently, "It will be the making of you," he said, while patting me on the back firmly.

Just while I was turning to leave he mentioned something about a shoot taking place in the basement which piqued my interest.

"What was that Carlisle?"

"Oh... Alice has got her in the basement doing her cover shoot."

"Her?" I asked, I could hear my voice getting higher with excitement as I spoke, "You mean, Bella?"

"Yes, Edward. Bella..." He frowned at me quizzically.

"Oh right..." I answered, more calmly, but inside there was a full on fun fair taking place, "Well, it was nice seeing you, I'll make those changes and then email it to you, ok?"

"Excellent. Good work Edward, I'm very impressed."

"Thank you, sir." I nodded and closed the door behind me.

I tried to walk down the stairs slowly, but my heart was willing me to jump them two at a time. When I got to the last stair case that would take me to the basement I stopped. _What if she didn't want to see me? What if she's forgotten who I am? What if she's changed her mind?_

I stood for a little while and thought about it. But while doing so, I heard her laugh coming up the stair case and engulfing me in her happy sounds. Without my brain willing it, my feet carried me down the stairs. I stood in the doorway in complete awe.

Bella was stood in front of the camera in a tight white tank and lace panties, doing air guitar and pulling gurning faces while her and Alice both laughed. Her hair and makeup made her look indescribable, and I felt myself getting hard watching her prance around the studio.

Just then Alice turned around and stared at me, the huge smile on her face dropping and a confused frown replacing it. She gestured me over to her, and I walked sullenly over to where she was standing, hoping that Bella wouldn't notice me there.

"What are you doing here?" Alice hissed at me.

"I didn't know she would be here, I promise, I came in to see Carlisle," I whispered back.

"Well now you can just go because I really don't think she wants to see you."

"I was going to. I don't even know why I came down here. I just needed to... see her again." I glanced over Alice's shoulder to where Bella had been dancing around happily and saw her staring at me intently, with what looked like anger in her eyes.

And that's when I ruined everything. Again.

She walked out of my life after I told her how I felt. And I was literally crushed. Unable to even move from the spot where she left me.

After a stern talking to from Alice I returned home and revised the article like Carlisle had asked me to. I still wasn't happy with it though so I played around with it for a few more days, refusing to leave my apartment, working on Bella's article was like having her with me, her face greeted me every time I went to look at the article on the screen, the shots that Alice had taken surrounded the page haphazardly and I took a moment every couple of minutes to look at her.

After a week of perfecting the article I emailed it to Carlisle, and he was more than happy with the results.

I went back to work a few days after emailing Carlisle the article, and while there were no band reviews to write, I got given a pile of CD's to listen to and review, as well as a list of dates and gigs I would be at so that I could review them. I guess I couldn't get the cover feature every month could I?

However my inbox was getting ridiculously rammed with the recent stories about Bella's antics around New York's party scene. My work mates seemed to think it was funny that we were about to publish a story saying how she wasn't like this, and she was out proving me wrong.

She had a different man every night, and was always completely smashed and wearing trashy dresses, and you could see with every night that passed the damage she was doing to herself. She clearly wasn't eating, and was becoming thinner and thinner, her pale skin was becoming almost translucent, her face was gaunt and her eyes dead, void of emotion. Every picture I saw made me feel guiltier, and it took all I had not to head over to her apartment and force feed her, telling her I loved her. But she was done with me now. She didn't want me.

That's the problem you see. Seeing all those pictures made me realise I actually _love_ her, I'd never been in love before, and I really didn't think that my feelings for her would be strongest after seeing her destroying herself in front of the world's media.

***

The morning the magazine was published, Alice came storming into the office with a bottle of champagne and two glasses, heading straight for me and throwing her arms around me excitedly.

"How does it feel?" She beamed at me.

"How does what feel?" I laughed.

"Knowing that right now, everyone is reading an article that _you_ wrote!" She looked at me like I was crazy, and I shook my head at her.

"I'm sure people have better things to do than head straight out and get Rolling Stone!"

"Urgh fine! You're such a killjoy!" She humphed and popped open the champagne, pouring us both a glass.

"Is it not a little early?" I question, picking up the glass and tilting it in her direction in my appreciation.

"Not when you're newly engaged it's not!" Alice squealed, shoving a huge fuck off diamond in my face.

"Fuck off!" I shouted, grabbing her hand, "Jasper proposed?"

"No, Sherlock, Jude Law proposed to me!" She joked, "Isn't it great?"

"It's amazing, congratulations! You and Jude will be very happy together!"

She laughed and hit me playfully on the chest before we both polished off our glasses of champagne.

A few days later, while sitting at my desk, my phone started to ring, it wasn't very often we received external calls on our extensions, so I answered it gingerly.

"Good afternoon, Rolling Stone magazine, Edward Cullen speaking, how may I help you?" I visibly cringed at my ineptness at answering the phone in a cool manner.

"_Edward? It's Rosalie... Bella's manager."_

"Rosalie? Hey... How're you?"

"_I've been having a shit time recently actually, I'm sure you haven't missed the total breakdown Bella's having at the moment?"_ I didn't answer, so she continued, _"Well yeah, she's been impossible, she's not listening to anyone. But that's why I called you, I've just given her a copy of the magazine, she threw it on the floor but I reckon she'll read it in a few days. I just wanted to say thank you. It's amazing."_

"Oh, well... thanks. It's not a problem, really."

"_No, really Edward, it's amazing, I don't know how to thank you."_

"You can make sure that client of yours gets some food in her... she's disappearing..." I said in all seriousness. Rosalie didn't answer for a few long seconds.

"_I will. So... I'll see you at the engagement party then?"_

I thought for a few moments. Alice had been mentioning something about a party for the last few days, but I've had to block her out, her constant talking gives me a headache.

"I'll be there."

"_Excellent, well, I'll see you soon then I guess!"_

"Yep, bye Rosalie, thanks for calling."

"_Bye."_


	12. Chapter 12

BPOV

_When the pyrotechnics go off announcing her arrival, Bella literally lights a spark inside her, and for the next two hours, her life is revolved around making her audience experience something they're never likely to see from another female artist ever again. Bella Swan's show is not just about the dancing, not just about the costumes, not just about the amazing live band, not just about the breathtaking backing videos, not just about the huge voice that seems to come from nowhere, not just about the music, but it's one big culmination of everything good that you would ever want to see, crammed into two hours on a stage. There's something in this show that just clicks, everything falls into place perfectly, like a well oiled machine, and you can't help but think, as an audience member, you're witnessing something truly magical taking place in front of you._

I was still kneeling on the floor, the magazine resting on my knees, and I was half way through. Edward had written the most beautiful article I had ever read, it was articulate, unbiased, revealing and sensitive at the same time. There were quotes from our interview scattered around, as well as quotes from Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and some of the dancers. He mentioned the scrap book that he had saved for me, and my emotional response to it, as well as briefly discussing my partying, for which he used a lot of what I had said to him in the interview, even though recent events would make my comments laughable.

There were photo's all around the 6 page spread, some that Alice took, and some from the photo shoot, I'd been so eager to read Edward's words that I didn't even bother looking at the cover, so I still was unsure which picture they'd used, but I would look at it later.

Towards the end of the interview he started to reveal the fact that I wrote my own songs, and my breathing hitched, thinking about how excited he was to be revealing that to the world.

_There's a secret that Bella's been keeping though. An amazing secret that she's kept hidden away since her second album. A secret that could really open up the world for her. While walking around aimlessly backstage I stumbled across a rather gifted musician, after following the music, I walked into a room filled with beautiful music, and an even more beautiful composer. Bella Swan was sitting at the huge grand piano, her fingers dancing across the ivories with an ease matched only by the masters, her voice swirled around the room, dazzling everything in its wake into an almost dream like state._ _After first startling her with my presence, she confessed to me that she in fact, wrote all of her own music, her own lyrics, and could indeed play multiple instruments._

_But why does she not want people to know this? "The lyrics are too personal", and indeed looking back on it now, how did anyone ever deny that she was a gifted musician? The songs that we, as the buying public believed were written for her by various songwriters are the epitome of Bella. 'Mistake', 'Flash' and 'Drown out' three in a long list of autobiographical songs, if there was one thing that I was aiming for when taking up this project, it was to show the infamous Bella Swan in a new light, and by finding out that she is, indeed one of the most talented singer songwriters of her generation, it fills me with a sense of pride, matched only by the pride I felt when joining the institution which is Rolling Stone magazine._

_After discussing with Bella whether I could write about what I'd seen, she confessed to me that she was in the process of writing a song, but could not tell how it would sound because she had no recording equipment with her. Sensing a damsel in distress moment, I gallantly took to the piano and proceeded to play this beautiful woman's music back to her while she played the acoustic guitar and sang. There are not many moments in a man's life that he will admit to feeling completely inferior to a woman, but this was mine. As I sat playing through her series of notes, I couldn't help but admire the divinity standing next to me, bearing her soul to an unknowing world._

_And to be honest. That is what Bella Swan is about. It's not about the money. Not about the partying, the men, the photo shoots. It's always been about the music._

_Being a celebrity is not a job. Being a magnificently beautiful, immensely talented singer and musician is a job. Celebrity is what comes with it. Some people deal with it well, others have to grow up in the glare of the public eye. The scrutiny that is dished out to these young celebrities can make or break a person, to survive at all is a blessing. To survive and still be able to perform night after night for thousands of fans can only be described as a miracle. And THAT is Bella Swan. –__Edward Cullen_

I sat staring at the page for what seemed like hours. Seemingly unable to move from my spot on the floor. After a while, the page became blurry, and after blinking hurriedly to refocus on his name, I noticed I was crying. I carefully stood up and went to sit on the couch, holding the magazine like it was the holy grail. Out of curiosity, I turned the front cover over to see the shot they had chosen, and was met with a total anticlimax in comparison to the article, it was one of the shots of me in the tank and panties sitting on the leather chair, one leg pointed high into the air, me smiling and laughing, holding onto the knee of my other leg. I looked happy and content, the title reading.

**Secrets of a Swan**

I put the magazine down on the coffee table and headed to my bedroom to have a shower and get changed. Once I was looking respectable I retrieved my phone from the floor and hit send when I saw Rose's name, she answered in 2 rings.

"_What's happened?"_

"Nothing Rose. But I need to see you. Can I meet you somewhere?"

"_I'll come to you."_

"No, I want to go somewhere, I need to eat. Do you want to go to that diner on the corner of your street?"

"_Erm, yeah if you want? Half an hour?"_

"I'll be there, bye Rose."

"_See you in a bit."_

EPOV

I'd not had any emails about Bella's wild nights out for a couple of days, so I decided, against my better judgement, to google her. After hitting the search button, the first of the news stories was about my article, and then the others were all old that I'd seen or read before. This could mean that she hadn't done anything recently that provided photographers? Maybe she was sorting herself out. I hoped that was true.

After a few weeks of Alice constantly talking to me about engagement party plans, the day finally arrived. And once again, she wouldn't stop talking about it. It was Friday afternoon, 4.45, we would be leaving in 15 minutes, and the party started at 8. Alice was biting my ear off saying that she wouldn't have enough time to get ready and sort out the party planners. I was going to ask why she'd hired party planners if she felt she had to organise them, but I thought better of it.

Still nothing about Bella had been in the tabloids, and I took this as a good sign, hoping that she had gone away somewhere to recuperate and relax.

I got back to my apartment and took a long hot shower, in no rush to be on time, even though I knew it would ruin Alice's schedule. I took my time getting changed into a black button down and tight dark jeans. I looked in the mirror at my hair, and as my hand reached up to try and tame it I forgot about it, leaving it as it was and grabbing my keys, leaving.

I got to what I assumed was Jasper's house just after 8:15, I parked up my car and headed for the door, which was swiftly opened by an annoyed looking Alice.

"Where the fuck have you been Edward?"

"Sorry... I got stuck in traffic, you know what it's like Alice." I shrugged as she let me pass her. A young boy came up to me, a selection of drinks on the tray he was holding. I took a glass of God knows what, and thanked him before following Alice into another room.

"Look, Edward, I didn't want to tell you before because I thought you might b-"

"Edward?" I heard my name called from the other end of the room and looked up inquisitively at the voice.

"Jane?" I said, an apprehensive smile on my face, stepping away from Alice and towards Jane, she put her arms around me and I reciprocated, while pulling away from the embrace, I looked at her more closely, "You look amazing, as always."

"Can't say you look too bad yourself!" Jane laughed as she appraised my appearance, "Still got the girls hanging from your every word?"

"Oh he's quite the ladies man!" Alice interrupted, her hand on my shoulder pulling me down to her height, "I need to talk to you... now!"

I nodded, but turned back to Jane, "Have you seen how many celebrities are here? It's amazing! Bella Swan sure looks like sh-"

I heard nothing else that Jane said. I stood staring at her, I could see her mouth moving but there was no sound. Alice, obviously noticing my daze, pulled me out of the room and I found myself seated on a step of Jasper's grand staircase.

"Edward..."

She was here. _She was here. _She was here, and so was I. She knew I would be here, and she still came. She's somewhere in this house.

"Edward?"

I looked up at Alice briefly before taking a quick look around for any sign of her.

"Edward! Please listen to me!" I heard Alice exclaim, pulling on my hand. I looked back up at her and nodded solemnly.

"You didn't tell me." I said quietly.

"No I didn't. And if you'll just let me explain..." I didn't interrupt so she continued, "You're better when you've not planned anything. If I'd told you before, you would have been thinking about it this entire time. But she is here yes. And she's been asking Jasper where you are. She wants to see you."

I sat in silence for a long time. My hands clasped together in my lap, staring straight ahead.

"Where is she?" I whispered.

"I don't know. She'll be with Rosalie and Emmett, she's been staying with them for the last few weeks."

I nodded and stood up silently, walking past Alice and heading for the main room, I stopped in the doorway and searched the room for her, but she wasn't there. I walked swiftly through the room and ended up the in the huge kitchen, and there with her back to me, leaning against the kitchen island was Bella Swan.

Stood facing me were Rosalie and Emmett, and they seemed to be comforting her for some reason. I made a small step towards them and Rosalie's head immediately shot up, she spotted me and her eyes bugged. Bella obviously noticed and turned her head slightly, she must have seen me out of the corner of her eye, because she then turned her entire body to face me. Her expression was tentative as she looked at me, I smiled weakly and she turned away from me. For a second I thought that was it, but she turned around again and walked towards me. As she emerged from behind the kitchen island I was immediately taken in by the long expanse of leg that was on show, she was wearing what looked like a jumpsuit. It was mainly white with black stars and other space related objects on, it was a flowy type material and she looked beautiful. I trained my eyes back to hers and she smiled slightly at me.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" She said quietly as she got closer to me. I nodded and she passed me, so I followed her. I soon found that we were seated in the garden, on a swinging seat. I couldn't help but stare at her legs as they dangled from the seat.

"Haute Hippie?" I offered, proud of myself that I'd remembered the name of the designer of her dress from ages ago. She laughed quietly.

"You remembered? Very impressive but not the one I'm afraid."

"Well are you going to give me another one of your valuable lessons?" I looked up at her eyes which seemed to be full of sadness, but also a little amusement.

"Are you really bothered?" She asked, cocking her eyebrow and shrugging at me.

"I've always been interested..." I hoped that she knew I wasn't just talking about her clothes.

"Anna Sui" She whispered so quietly it was almost inaudible, and then was silent for a long time. "I read your article..."

"Oh..." I replied, lifting my eyebrows in surprise, "And..?"

"I wanted to thank you. It's amazing. You're an amazing writer."

"Well I had a pretty amazing subject." I sat up straight, my body turning towards her inadvertently, staring into her eyes.

"You said you wouldn't write it."

"I had a change of heart." I shrugged.

"Why?"

"Because..." I started, "Because I'd just realised I'd made the biggest mistake of my life..."

"The magazine..." Bella nodded and her eyes seemed to sadden more.

"No." I replied quickly, "Leaving you."

I heard her take a quick breath, a gasp almost.

"I tried to say at the photo shoot." I whispered quietly.

"I know. I was angry"

"You had every right to be..." I reasoned.

"But I've fucked things up now haven't I?" She asked, and I leaned into her a little, my hand resting on her exposed leg. "The last few months, I've been s-"

"I don't care." I interrupted, and truth be told, I wasn't lying in the slightest, seeing her here, vulnerable and emotional, I couldn't care less what she'd been doing the last few months. _Who_ she'd been doing. I didn't care.

"But I need to tell you." She demanded, her hand resting on mine which was on her leg, she looked deep into my eyes, "It was all about you, I needed to forget you..."

"Did it work?" My voice came out a little pitchy.

"Not at all. I was just numb the entire time. Convincing myself I was ok. I wasn't eating. Rosalie told me she would leave me."

"What changed?"

"You." She said simply, her hand squeezing mine gently, "Your article. It made me realise that I need you. I phoned Rose and asked her to put me in rehab but she said no. She took me in, her and Emmett looked after me. They made me eat and we spoke about everything that had happened and what I could do to change it. And it seems to be working. There's just one more thing that needs to be sorted."

"And what's that?" I frowned in confusion, bowled over that she felt the need to admit all of these things to me.

"You." She said again, "And I'm going to do something now, and I need you to promise me you're not going to run away..." She laughed slightly at the end, but I could see her eyes welling up, she sniffed ever so slightly and leaned her head towards mine.

"I'm not going anywhere Bella." I promised and closed the gap between us, I pressed my mouth to hers gently, caressing her lips with my own with a soft but urgent manner. Her hands shot up and caught around my neck, playing with the hair at the nape of my neck, I heard her moan softly into the kiss and I smiled. My tongue ran across her bottom lip begging for entrance, she opened her mouth and our tongues massaged each other's softly. My hands found purchase in her hair as I pulled away, giving us both time to breathe, I set to work on her neck, praising every inch of skin I could reach with kissed and licks.

"Edward..." She whispered, I smiled onto her neck and pulled away. I looked into her eyes intently.

"I need to say something..." I said, she licked her lips and nodded at me. I let go of her hair and untwined her arms from my neck, taking both of her hands in my own. "I left the tour because..." I took a deep breath, "I was in love with you. I _am_ in love with you. I love you Bella." That was the first time I'd said it out loud, and I was now embarrassed that it didn't seem to want to stop coming out of my mouth. I was inwardly cursing myself for my verbal diahorrea, when I heard the one thing I didn't expect.

"I love you too." It was quiet, but she had definitely said it.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, Edward, really. I love you."

"Edwaaaaaaaard?!" I heard shouted from the huge patio doors. I turned my head slightly to see Jane standing just outside, it was obvious she could see me, but the cover of the tree made Bella invisible to her. "Edward? What are you doing? Get in here!"

I groaned quietly and rolled my eyes towards Bella who had an eyebrow cocked in disapproval.

"Seriously, don't say anything, she's an intern, works with Tyler on the floor below me doing photocopying mainly."

"Well she seems very interested in you!" Bella laughed quietly.

"Edw-" She started shouting again.

"Hang on a second Jane! I'll meet you in there!" I shouted back angrily before she could finish. I turned to see her scurry back inside. I looked back at Bella, "She asked me to be her 'friend with benefits' a while back, and apparently, "No way" wasn't a definitive answer, so she's still trying!"

Bella laughed again and my head fell in frustration.

"Come on, let's get you inside!" Bella said, standing up and holding her hand out for me. I took it and stood up, walking back towards the house, holding her hand firmly in mine, never wanting to let it go ever again.

"Edward I di-" Jane rushed up to me as I entered the house before Bella, when she saw my hand connected to that of Bella she stopped mid flow. "What's going on?" She asked with a bewildered giggle.

"Jane, seriously can we stop this? I said no, and I'm sorry. But we can of course be friends." I said as politely as possible. Her bottom lip trembled and I felt bad. When I'd come into the party earlier I'd probably given her the wrong impression, but I was really just trying to be my normal charming self, I didn't realise she actually wanted to carry on with the stupid arrangement I'd already said no to.

Jane turned on her heel and walked away from us both quickly. Bella pulled on my hand lightly and I looked down at her.

"Tell me... am I going to have to deal with a lot of girls who you've seduced with those eyes of yours?" She smirked and laughed slightly, and I cocked an eyebrow in response.

"Mine are very localised Bella... your admirers are worldwide... the competition is endless!"

"You better be on your A game then, eh?"

I laughed but nodded. As Rosalie approached us, I instinctively let go of Bella's hand and stood up straighter.

"At ease soldier!" Rosalie laughed, noting my posture. I relaxed a little but didn't take Bella's hand back in mine. "Is everything ok?" She looked at Bella who had a slightly confused look on her face but looked happy nonetheless.

"Everything's gooood." Bella responded, emphasising the good in an adorable way that made me want to kiss her.

"Good, they're about to do the toast." Rosalie said and turned away, when I looked to where she was headed I saw the intimidating frame of Emmett, he was glaring at me slightly, but I quickly turned my gazed back to Bella.

"How are we going to do this then?" She asked quietly as we walked into the living room where everyone was gathered for the toast. I still hadn't taken her hand back, worried she might not want to broadcast whatever it was we had going on, but we were still walking close enough together that our hands grazed against each other as we walked.

"I hadn't really thought that far." I admitted, looking down into her eyes.

"We'll need to be careful, you don't want any unnecessary attention."

"I don't even care about me, I just want you Bella."

"And now you've got me." She smiled, taking my hand in hers, giving it a quick squeeze before letting it go again and turning to raise her glass and repeat the toast just made.

I raised my glass into the air silently, keeping my eyes focused on Bella who had left my side to go and talk to Jasper and Alice. I followed slowly, coming to a standstill beside her.

"Edward! Nice to see you again my friend!" Jasper said enthusiastically as I shook his hand.

"Congratulations... both of you." I said, turning my head to Alice with a smile

"And to you Edward, that article of yours was incredible." Jasper patted my shoulder and I shrugged, looking at Bella who was smiling at me.

"It was nothing, really." I looked at Alice again who was looking at me expectantly, I nodded inconspicuously and she literally threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and bringing her mouth to my ear.

"Take her home then..." She let go of me and planted her feet back on the ground again, "Now." She insisted with a smirk. I turned my head to Bella who was staring dumbfounded at Alice's enthusiasm, I pulled on her hand which was hanging by her side and she looked up at me through her thick lashes.

"Come on," I said quietly and led her away, waving at Alice and Jasper as we walked out of the room and into the secluded coat room. Bella laughed and I quickly turned to see what she was laughing at.

"What?"

She laughed again. "What is this? A 'Grab your coat you've pulled' move?"

"Alice told me to take you home. You're always supposed to adhere to the hosts requests are you not?" I said as adamantly as possible while she continued to giggle.

"Oh well, in that case Mr. Cullen, your place or mine?" She sauntered up to me and lay both of her hands on my shoulders, pulling herself up onto her tip toes so that her face was level with mine. I leaned in until our lips were millimetres apart, and I could feel her breathing hitch slightly at my sudden closeness.

"Are you gonna keep up with all these cheesy pick up lines? If so I'm going to have to whip out a few of my own," I whispered as my lips ghosted her jaw bone up to her ear. I felt Bella shiver slightly in my arms and I smiled to myself.

"You can whip out all you want, Cullen." She whispered back to me, setting herself back on the ground in front of me, "I'll warn you though... I choke on small objects." She smirked obviously happy with herself, but that smirk drove me wild and had an enormous effect on my cock. As she turned to get her coat I put one hand on her waist and pulled, spinning her around so that she was facing me again and pulled her flush to my now rock hard erection, she gasped audibly and I smirked in return.

"I don't think they'll be any hazardous objects for you to choke on tonight Bells..."

"Uh... I... Oh my God..." Bella started, her eyes closed as I tried vehemently to pull her even closer to my body, "I think you're right," she breathed and tried to pull away from me, "My place is 10 minutes away... you got a car?" I nodded silently, "You remember where you're going? Because I'm in no fit state to give directions..."

I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the coat room, but when we got to the door she turned and ran back into the room to get her coat, she then came back to me and took my hand again. There was nobody near enough to say goodbye to, but Alice knew where we would have gone.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N - Hey guys, here's another chapter for your literary enjoyment!**

**I've got to say a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, it means a lot to me. In particular Mothermeow5, readers like you make it all worth while... thank you! :-)**

BPOV

"What's with this change of heart then B? Suddenly decided to start eating again?" Rosalie said harshly as I sat down opposite her at the diner. She had every right to be angry, I'd definitely been making her work hard for her 15% recently, and shown absolutely no decency or regard for her or her feelings.

"I want to start by apologising Rose, I've been a nightmare, I know..." I took a deep breath and looked up at Rose who was looking at me expectantly, "I don't know what's happened..."

"You've been fucking half of New York, that's what happened!" Rose said, her hands hitting the table.

I opened my mouth to speak just a waitress came over. I quickly ordered pancakes, bacon and eggs, it had been weeks since I'd eaten a meal, just snacking here and there, and so I was suddenly desperate for anything I could get my hands on. Rosalie just ordered a coffee, and I quickly added one to my order as the waitress left us.

"Rose... I can't tell you how sorry I am. I'm an absolute wreck, I have no clothes that fit me, my parents aren't talking to me, I'm not getting any work in, I have no memory of the past few weeks, let alone the guys whose houses I've been staying at, and if I lost you and Emmett I don't think I could cope..." Rose was silent, just staring at me, her expression indecipherable, "I think I need some help..."

"Yeah B, you do."

"How fast can you get me into rehab?" I asked, bowing my head down as I asked. This was something I'd always guaranteed I'd never lower myself to. I'd seen so many of my friends in this position and it made me physically sick that I was going to be one of 'those' celebrities who would end up on E! True Hollywood Stories as a fuck up.

Our drinks and my food came to the table then, and I dug in with a vengeance. Rose stared at me intently, watching my every move. I stopped for air and reached for my coffee.

"I'm not going to let you go to rehab Bella."

"Rose, I really think th-"

"No, you're not going. I can help you through this. So what? You like to party and have sex... you're not a drug addict or an alcoholic are you? Actually... you're not, are you?"

I rolled my eyes, "I've not got that far yet, no..."

"Don't be funny with me Bella." I cast my eyes back down to the table in an apology, "Look, I just think you need to sort yourself out. Find yourself again. Why don't we start by you telling me what the fuck exactly happened to start this?"

I nodded and proceeded to tell Rosalie absolutely everything about Edward, about the photoshoot, and how he'd told me that he liked me, and that he'd made a mistake. I told her about my utter rejection of him and my subsequent mental breakdown. I told her about the nights out that I could remember... although there weren't many. I told her about my reaction to the article, and finally... I told her that I was in love with Edward Cullen. Of course I'd already told her back when I was on tour that I liked him, but she was shocked to hear that I was in love with him.

"Holy fuck. You've totally lost the plot then haven't you?" Rose said, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Thanks Rose," I groaned, letting my head fall onto the table in front of me.

"You think he's going to appreciate what you've been doing?"

"Absolutely not..."

"Well he does still care about you. For some reason."

"Huh?" I lifted my head off the table and looked at her inquisitively, she was grinning at me like a cheshire cat.

"I phoned him to thank him for the article... he told me to make sure you started eating. He said you were disappearing..."

I looked down at myself and I knew he was right, today I'd had to wear a sweater dress which had once fitted my curves amazingly, but now looked like I'd borrowed it from a giant, just because there really was no way to wear skinny jeans that looked like they were made for the Michelin man.

"I haven't even thought about food recently." I responded quietly, Rose reached across the table and grabbed my hand.

"Hey... we're going to sort this. You, my girl, are going to come and live with Em and I. If anyone can make you eat, it's that big oaf. There will be no partying, and no alcohol. You're going to sit at the piano or with your guitar for at least 2 hours a day and you're going to remember what it's like to be you, ok?"

***

And so there we were at Alice and Jasper's engagement party, and I'm not afraid to say I was absolutely shitting myself. I knew that Edward would be there, but Rosalie had put a call through to Alice telling her not to tell him that I would be there.

The last few weeks had been a lot better. I'd stayed with Rose and Emmett from the minute we'd left the diner, and I 'd done exactly what she'd said. Emmett was indeed a force to be reckoned with when it came to food, sometimes actually forcing food down my throat when he thought I was being unreasonable. I had made some progress though, I'd put on a few pounds, but not as much as I would have liked, but a few more weeks and I'd be close to where I was before, and maybe my clothes would fit me again.

I'd been apprehensive about my outfit for this evening. It was a white playsuit which showed off a lot of my skinny legs, but Rosalie said they really didn't look that bad now, and that I would be able to get away with it.

There were lots of stares and whispers when we'd walked into the house, a lot of the men seemed to straighten up and pull their stomachs in when I walked past them, obviously hoping I wasn't past my desperate stage. I laughed to myself as we made our way to the kitchen, Emmett kept his hand on the small of my back the entire way and it made me feel a lot safer with him there.

We grabbed some drinks, just an orange juice for me, obviously. Alice and Jasper made their way to us quickly, and I hugged them both, congratulating them on their speedy engagement and upcoming nuptials.

While they spoke to Rose and Emmett I took a second to take a quick glance round the room.

"He's not here yet Darlin'" Jasper offered quietly in my ear, coming to stand next to me, leaning on the counter beside me.

"What if he's changed his mind Jazz?" I whispered quietly, the fear knotting in my stomach even before I said the words.

"Believe me, he hasn't. You just have to trust him to make the right decision this time. He'll do it."

I nodded and looked down at my bare legs. This outfit had definitely been a mistake, I could see my boney legs, the heels I was wearing accentuating their slimness. When I looked up again, Alice and Jasper had gone.

A few more minutes of talking with Em and Rose and then her head popped up, staring at something behind me. I knew what she was staring at, or rather _who_ she was staring at. I turned slightly and saw his tall figure, my head snapped back to Rose quickly and I took a few deep breaths.

***

And so here we were sitting in Edward's car, my whole body quivering with anticipation and want, his hand resting on my naked thigh causing my skin to tingle and burn.

"Bella, I need some help here beautiful. Where can I park?"

I shook my head out of my reverie and looked around at where we were. He'd pulled up just outside the entrance to my building and I could see the doorman looking at me expectantly, like he thought I was being dropped off by a friend. I'd not been to the apartment in a long time, suddenly terrified I didn't have my key, I grabbed my purse and rummaged around in it before finding it and calming down again. Meanwhile Edward sat just staring at me. I turned to him.

"Oh, sorry... you asked me something didn't you?"

"I need to park the car..." He said with a smile, and squeezed my thigh gently.

"Oh, just round the corner is the entrance to the underground lot, there's a guest space next to my Mercedes." He grinned again and quickly drove to the lot, parking up and coming round to my door to help me out. I took his hand as we walked to the elevator and he pressed the button for the penthouse after taking my key from me.

The tension in the air was palpable as we rode in the elevator, I watched him nervously as he fiddled with the key, a slight frown marring his perfect features. His lips pursed as he took a deep breath, turning his head ever so slightly to look at me out of the corner of his eye and grinned when he saw me looking at him from the other side of the elevator.

I let out a shaky breath when the elevator pinged and the doors opened. I walked out first and turned to look at Edward who had put both his keys and mine on the small table next to the door. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on forth on his heels.

"Um..." I started, "Do you er... do you want a drink or something?" I asked, walking towards the kitchen, knowing that I wouldn't have anything in the fridge, but I maybe had a bottle of Jack in the cupboard.

"I'll have whatever you're having." He said as he walked over to the breakfast bar and settled on one of the stools, his elbow rested on the bar and held up his head while he watched me with a smile.

"Well... I can't actually have any, but I have some Jack." I said with a grin as I pulled the bottle from the top cupboard. He looked at me curiously.

"You can't have any?"

"Strict no alcohol rule from Rose... I tend to make a bit of a fool of myself and make stupid decisions." I said with an uncomfortable laugh and a shrug.

"And what about tonight would constitute as a stupid decision... if you were to partake in a little Jack?"

"Um..." I frowned, setting the bottle down on the counter in between us, "I guess there wouldn't be one." He smiled.

"So... I'll have what you're having Miss Swan." He gestured towards the bottle, I turned swiftly and took some glasses from the cupboard, pouring a healthy amount of JD into each before pushing one over to him. We both took a big gulp, feeling the burn as it made its way through my body. I set the glass down and watched Edward stand up and walk around the counter to stand in front of me.

"I didn't think it would be this nerve-racking." He admitted, his eyes gazing into mine, his green ones burning brightly, "I'm absolutely terrified."

"Me too." I said, tearing my eyes away from his and looking down to the floor, "I thought this bit would be easy, but..."

He put his hands either side of my hips and pulled me towards him a little.

"Fuck me!" He suddenly exclaimed, making me jump and my head snapped up to meet his eyes which were filled with concern.

"What?"

"What the fuck has happened here?" He squeezed my hips a little, "Where have you gone? I thought Rose was supposed to be making you eat... I can't believe I didn't notice this earlier!"

"Edward!" I groaned loudly with a frown as I pushed away from him and walked around to the other side of the breakfast bar, where he had been sitting just moments before. "I _am_ eating! You think I would be allowed to miss a meal, living with Emmett? It's just not doing anything!"

"Bella..." Edward said softly, walking to the edge of the counter opposite me, leaning on it, I turned my head away from him, "Hey... Bella..." He said again and I turned to look at him, "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just... different, you know?"

"I'm trying..." I nodded, "Do you... Do you not... _want_ me anymore?"

Edward laughed loudly, "Believe me babe, a little problem like you having lost a few pounds is not gonna put me off!" Then his face turned serious again as he rested his chin on the heel of his hand as he leaned on the counter, "But..."

"But what?"

"I was just thinking... it could be... an... _incentive_... if you understand me?"

"An incentive? Who do you think you are? God's gift to women?" I laughed.

"I'm serious Bella. I really don't think either of us are ready for this tonight, realistically." I nodded, we shouldn't be terrified of each other, we should be comfortable and it should come naturally to us. "Maybe... well... let me take you out on a few dates, we can get to know each other again, without me recording your answers!" He laughed, "We can... well... we can go out for dinner, fatten you up until you're back to normal... it'll be like a race against your hormones!"

"Fun, eh?" I rolled my eyes, his face remained still, "It does actually sound like a good idea."

"So, Miss Swan, will you do me the honour of joining me for dinner tomorrow evening?"

"Of course!" I said in a high pitched girly voice, mocking his faux romantic proposition.

"Excellent!" He said, leaning over the top of the counter to kiss me on the forehead.

He stood up straight again and looked around the room.

"Hey, Edward?" I said, snapping him out of his trance.

"Hmm?"

"Are you still going to stay over tonight?"

"Yeah, if you're sure you want me to."

"I am."

"Then I will."

"Well... I'm pretty tired, I think I'm going to head off to bed." I said with a yawn, Edward immediately looked disappointed, but I couldn't think why.

As I walked off towards my bedroom, I heard him move across the room.

"Night Bells." He called, and I stopped in my tracks.

"Hey! Where are you off to?" I laughed slightly at his confused expression.

"The spare room?"

"Oh no you don't... You've been granted an upgrade my friend!" I laughed again as he literally ran to me, his arms encasing me and his lips found mine as he kissed me softly, before pulling away a few seconds later. "You really think I'm going to have the man I love sleeping in the spare room?"

"I love you." He responded kissing me again chastely. I turned around and led him into the room, he took a step in and looked around at my decor.

"Come on you." I said and he quickly got undressed getting into the bed while I went to the bathroom quickly, taking off my makeup, fluffing my hair and changing into a pair of boy shorts and a tank. I walked out of the bathroom and got into the bed beside him.

"Hey..." He said quietly as he reached out for me. "Why so far away?"

"Huh?"

"Come here." He said as he scooted over while also pulling me towards him, and he held me against his chest for the rest of the night. Best night's sleep. Ever.


	14. Chapter 14

BPOV

I woke up the next morning with my arm and leg draped inelegantly across the body of Edward. I blinked a few times, adjusting to the morning, and to get a better view of his sleeping form, his usually messy hair looked remarkably tame, making it look as though he styled it in the morning to make it look he'd had sex.

"Stop staring at me, it's creepy," he said quietly as he turned onto his side, his eyes still closed and a stoic expression on his face, anyone would think he was still asleep.

"Don't flatter yourself Cullen!" I said, moving away from him and detaching my arm and leg from him.

"Hey hey hey," He mumbled, eyes still closed as he reached down to the crook behind my knee, pulling my leg back to him and pulled it over his hip, our hips dangerously close to one another as he held me there. His breathing picked up slightly, but his face still held that unassuming expression and his eyes were still closed. "Can I just say something?"

"Uh... yeah?" I answered, my eyes wide at his _still_ closed eyes.

"I for one, _cannot wait_ until you've put the weight back on!" With that he opened his eyes with a grin, and with the leg that he still had a hold of, forced me onto my back and hovered over me, his eyes scanning my face eagerly.

"Well, Edward, I'm just... you know... I'm not feeling the incentive..." I shook my head, a smile threatening to break across my features as his eyes widened infinitely, "I just don't think I'm that hungry..."

He cut me off with an urgent kiss as he crushed his lips to mine, his grip on my leg tightening and pulling it up even further towards him, making a nice gap between my legs where he could settle to kiss me comfortably. He deepened the kiss quickly, his tongue persuading my lips to grant him access, my hands found themselves running through, and fisting his hair as he pushed his weight onto me.

After what seemed like seconds, but I'm sure it was much longer he pulled away, groaning loudly. He worked his way across the bed and stood up, turning and looking at me while he put his shirt on.

"Breakfast... Now." He said urgently, pulling his jeans on gingerly over his prominent erection, which went undisguised by his boxers. I stared at it for a while, totally mesmerised, before laughing when he threw a pillow at me. "Seriously Bella... you need to fucking eat... now!"

***

After stuffing me with a huge breakfast, we settled on the couch to watch a film, I sat with my legs draped over him, as he tried to pull me ever closer while I rested my head on his shoulder. Around lunch time, Rose and Emmett arrived at my door, seemingly aware of Edward's presence.

"Hey!" I said excitedly as I let her through the door and motioned for them to sit down on the couch, "To what do I owe the pleasure?" I joked as I plopped down on the couch next to Emmett, Edward was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm here to make you lunch." Emmett said excitedly, holding shopping bags in his hands. I looked inquisitively at him.

"What? Why? Edward's here and w-"

"I've got to go Bella, Emmett and Rosalie are going to make sure you eat a big lunch and I'll be back at 8 to take you out for dinner ok?" He came out of my bedroom, pulling his jacket on. He came over to me and bent over, kissing me on the forehead and stroking my cheek with the back of his fingers.

"Erm... ok... I guess." I said, utterly confused as to why he was suddenly leaving, he'd seemed perfectly comfortable here earlier.

"See you at 8." He confirmed as he stepped into the elevator, he smiled sweetly at me as the doors shut.

I shook my head at his sudden departure and looked back at Rosalie who was smiling at me.

"Soooo... things went well then?" She asked, her eyes lighting up. Emmett groaned and stood sluggishly, walking over to the kitchen to make lunch.

"Yeah, I guess." I said, but even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice as my eyes inadvertently glanced back to the elevator doors, "That was just... weird."

"Don't get stressed Bella, he needs to sort some stuff out, that's why he called us."

"He called you?" I asked incredulously.

"Yup!" She answered and popped the 'p'. "So don't get pissy ok?"

I nodded in response as she looked around the room suspiciously.

"So, Bella... this room looks surprisingly intact. I'm guessing there was no wild animal sex?"

My eyes widened a colossal amount as she started laughing.

"Rose! You can't ask that!"

"Oh come on Bella!" She rolled her eyes, "Half the world knows who you've been screwing recently, now you're with the guy you wanted in the first place... I deserve at least a little dirt! Strictly on a professional basis of course!"

"You're disgusting." I mumbled, "And no, there was no wild animal sex. No sex of any kind actually." I looked up to see her eyes wide and her face confused.

"Oh God, he's not waiting for the wedding night is he? Because you'll be unbearable!"

"Of course not! It's not the 1900's! He just... he wants me to get better first."

"Get better?" She frowned, "You _are _better."

"No, I'm not." I looked up at her and sighed at the confusion written across her face, "Look at me Rosalie, I've hardly put any of the weight back on, and he won't do anything until he thinks I'm healthy."

"And what do you think about that?" Her eyes were scrutinising me as she leaned forwards on the couch towards me.

"I think it's a good idea. I want everything to be perfect, it wasn't right last night, and I think it freaked him out a bit, you know... how... skinny I am. He didn't like it." I looked down at my lap.

"Hence the reason for all this food?"

"Exactly, and taking me out on dinner dates. We can do the proper couple thing and eat at the same time, killing two birds with one stone!"

"So... you're happy?"

"I'm happy." I answered with an unwavering smile.

***

After a ridiculously big lunch and a well deserved rest, I moved to get ready for my date with Edward. Rose and Emmett had left just after lunch, so I was able to waddle to my bedroom, feeling weighed down with the vast amounts of food I'd enjoyed today.

I looked through my closet, hoping to find something that would make me look a little more human rather than skeletal. I looked through my unworn clothes that my stylist had put into my closet a few months ago for my return to the city, and found a deep purple, satin flocked Vivienne Westwood corset dress. I appraised it for a while, it was absolutely stunning, but I was worried the corset would accentuate my petite frame. I decided to try it on, and was pleased with the results, I looked skinny, but not as skinny as I had the previous night at Jasper and Alice's party. I found that if I paired it with my Jil Sander boyfriend blazer and my Jimmy Choo's, then I actually looked pretty decent.

I ran my hands through my hair and let it fall in waves down my back, but I wasn't sure about it, so I decided to add height to the crown with some back combing and then pulled it into a low pony tail. I applied some light make up, and then my signature dark eyes. I grabbed my Marc Jacobs clutch and threw my phone, keys and a bit of money into it, along with some lip balm and headed back out into the living room. When I got there, I heard Edward at the door and rushed over to let him in.

As he stepped into the room he looked me up and down and breathed deeply.

"Jesus, Bella... what are you trying to do to me?"

"Do you not like it?" I asked innocently, turning on the spot so he could appreciate it from every angle.

"Give me my lesson then..." He said with a smirk.

"Right, listen up, because I'll be testing you later!" I laughed, and saw him squint his eyes in anticipation for concentration, "The dress, Vivienne Westwood Red Label, Jacket, Jil Sander, Shoes, Jimmy Choo, and bag, Marc Jacobs." I watched him as he seemed to be going over it all in his head, "Got it?"

"I think so..." He said slowly, taking a step towards me and resting his hands on my hips, "Hello by the way."

"Hey." I laughed as he leant down to kiss my lips softly, I sighed quietly into the kiss as he pulled away, his hands still on my hips.

"Did you have a nutritious lunch?"

"Oh yes, I had a huge lunch!"

"I asked if it was nutritious..." A smile played on his lips and I was suddenly suspicious.

"Um... yeah? We had some lasagne and salad, and Emmett made garlic bread."

"Sounds good." He said with a shrug and leant down to kiss me again, to which I responded with a chaste movement of my lips. He pulled away again and took hold of my hand leading me to the elevator.

"What are you planning Cullen?" I asked as we rested against the bars of the elevator opposite each other.

"Well you'll find out soon won't you? Just be patient Bella!"

When we exited the elevator I murmured a quick goodbye to the doorman and took Edward's hand as he led me down the outside stairs of the building, but when we got to the sidewalk, he turned right, instead of left towards the car.

"Hey, Cullen, you won't find your car this way!" He didn't stop though, and carried on walking, pulling me along behind him gently.

"Sorry, you're going to have to do a little walking tonight Bella." He turned to smile at me and I saw a small smirk playing across his features.

"In these shoes?" I joked, "This had better be good!"

"I'll carry you if it's that much of a problem!" He said and stopped abruptly, letting go of my hand and swooping down to hurl me into a fireman's lift, but before he could I stepped back with a shriek, and heard him laugh.

"Exactly, now... just follow me!" He chuckled and took my hand again. I followed obediently.

We walked a few blocks before I was standing outside a glass fronted building with a yellow glow lighting both Edward and I. I looked at him for an answer, and he smiled broadly.

"We're here!"

"Huh?" I said, obvious confusion marring my face. I looked up at the building, seeing a huge glowing "M" just above us. "You're very funny Cullen, come on..." I said and pulled his hand to carry on down the sidewalk, he stood still, his hand holding mine tightly.

"I'm going in..." He smiled and held the door open for me. I folded my arms across my chest and raised an incredulous eyebrow at him, but he grinned again and walked in, the door swinging closed behind him. I watched through the window, thinking he would turn back around and come back out, but when he marched up to the counter and got in the queue my eyes widened in shock. I stood frozen for a few seconds before letting out a frustrated sigh and hurling the door open, stomping up to meet him in the queue, he turned to me casually and smirked.

"Ah, I wondered when I'd see you here!"

"McDonald's? Really? I thought you were taking me out for dinner?"

"Well, it _is_ food, is it not?"

"Debatable..." I mumbled.

"And it _is_ dinner time?"

"I guess." I said, my tone showing how unamused I was at the situation.

"Well then... what can I get for you sweetheart?!" He smirked at me again and I rolled my eyes with a sigh of resignation.

Edward ordered for us both and asked for it all to be put in a takeout bag. I carried the drinks in one of those cardboard cup holders, and tried to hide my face from the many customers who had noticed my presence in the establishment.

Once we were back outside, there were a herd of photographers and the flash lights were almost blinding as Edward took my hand again and walked briskly around the corner before pulling me into a dark doorway, we both let out a little grunt as he pulled me to him and I crashed against his chest, the drinks spilling all over us in the process.

"Shit..." I gasped, backing away from him quickly, hoping the dress wasn't completely ruined, luckily for me, most of the coke had fallen over Edward's white shirt, and I giggled quietly.

"Funny..." He said, his voice unamused. His stoic face making it impossible for me not to burst out into full on hysterics.

"Bella, stop!" He said, a hint of laughter ruining his cool facade. "Oh... come on!" He said, taking my hand and pulling me further into the building he'd pulled us into to hide us from the photographers.

"Is this your place?" I said, not really looking around the darkened building.

"Do you seriously not recognise it Bella?" He said, turning around to face me after pressing a button to call the elevator.

"Um..." I looked around the building, nothing seemed familiar, "No...?"

He sighed at me and rolled his eyes as the doors to elevator opened and he stepped inside, inviting me to join him. I stepped in beside him and stood next to him, our sides touching.

"I'm sorry about your shirt."

"No you're not."

"I am..." I said, smiling, but trying to suppress another bout of hysteria.

"Don't lie!" He laughed, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

The elevator pinged and I stepped out first, Edward following me. I looked around, squinting at the lack of light. There were lots of desks and office chairs separated by partitions. There were some private offices surrounding the main throng of desks.

"Am I supposed to know where we are?"

"Well not anymore, no. You should have recognised downstairs though."

"Are you going to tell me or am I supposed to read your mind?" I sighed as he took my hand and led me to one of the larger desks in the main section of the floor. He rolled a chair from a nearby desk over and gestured for me to sit, he flicked on the work lamp and sat himself in the chair opposite me.

The sudden bright light momentarily blinded me, but as the spots faded away, I adjusted and took a quick look around the newly illuminated area I was sitting in. The desk had CD'S and papers scattered all over it, a desktop computer and an empty desk organiser, pens littering the small area of desk around it. I looked up to the partition and saw a small name plate.

"Edward Cullen!" I said, "Have you brought me to your work to get an inside scoop?" I laughed and he responded in kind.

"I had to make sure nobody was going to be here tonight, and I needed the passcode, but they let me have it for the evening. I thought it might be more private... easier for you... you know?" He looked down at the floor, embarrassed, and so I wheeled my chair closer to his.

"I love it. It's really cute. This is probably the most thoughtful thing a guy has ever done for me!" I took his hand in mine and stood up slightly to plant a quick kiss on his cheek. He looked up at me again and smiled. "Hey, let's eat!" I said as he handed me the brown paper bag, he stood up and I looked at him inquisitively.

"I need to go to the machine and get us some new drinks." His head gestured to my empty hands which had been carrying the drinks and I laughed.

He came back a few minutes later with two cans of coke and slid one across the desk to me. He took his burger and bit into it happily, I smiled at his enthusiasm and giggled as some of the salad fell out.

"So..." I started, "You're feeding me McDonald's so that I'll put weight on quicker?" I smirked as he put his burger down to answer me.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't really want to wait too much longer."

"Well we could always ju-"

"Don't say it Bella." He said curtly, "I'm trying _very_ hard to keep to my little rules, so please don't put any ideas in my head. I'm very easily swayed." He looked up at me under his furrowed brow.

"I won't!" I smiled, but he picked his burger up again and shook his head, "What? I won't!"

"Just keep it that way!" He chuckled and bit into his burger again.

We talked happily while we ate, and he put all the rubbish into the brown bag when we'd finished.

"Right, next stop!" He said happily and took my hand pulling me out of the seat. I knew better than to ask.

He locked up the building and we walked down the sidewalk, I held his hand tightly as I almost skipped next to him. We turned around the block and he led me into a small, brightly lit building. There were vivid colours everywhere and I knew when my eyes widened that he was looking at me with an amused expression on his face.

"What's your flavour?" He whispered in my ear, making me tingle down below. My breathing hitched and I know he regretted it slightly. "Sor-"

"Don't." I whispered, resting my hand on his forearm. "I like cookie dough." I smiled and he went to the counter. It was relatively empty, although there was a small girl staring at me, open mouthed while her Dad was typing furiously on his laptop. I smiled and waved at the girl, and she blushed looking down at her feet as she kicked them together nervously. She looked up at me again and smiled a huge toothy grin, jumping out of her seat and heading for me.

"Hey!" I said enthusiastically as she stood right underneath me. I knelt down so that I was level with her, "What's your name sweetie?"

"Annabelle," she whispered, her hands clasped behind her as she swung from side to side.

"I'm Bella!"

"I know that silly! You live in my T.V!" I laughed, but nodded, not wanting to upset the girl.

"How old are you Annabelle?" I asked, glancing over her shoulder at her father who hadn't even noticed she'd gone. Amazing parenting.

Annabelle held up four of her fingers, "That many!"

"Wow!" I said happily, still annoyed that her father hadn't noticed her disappearance, "Is that your Daddy over there sweetie?" She nodded merrily.

"Daddy says I can have ice cweem as long as I'm quiet. He's buseee."

I nodded with a frown in his direction before turning my attention back to Annabelle.

"My Mommy says she could have been as big as you if she hadn't had me. But you're not vewwy big, you're the same size as Mommy." She looked up at my hair, "But her hair is lellow!"

I smiled and opened my mouth to respond when I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned my head to look up and saw Edward beaming down at me.

"Who's that man?" Annabelle asked, pointing at Edward, "He's all smiley!"

I laughed, "Annabelle, this is my friend Edward, Edward, meet Annabelle!" I did the formal introductions, and Edward knelt down on the floor beside me, handing me my ice cream.

"Nice to meet you Annabelle," He said sweetly and took her hand in his, shaking it professionally, she laughed.

"He's funneee!"

"Who's she here with?" Edward whispered into my ear, I gestured with my eyes to the man on the laptop. He nodded and stood up, I watched him walk over to the man, but turned my attention back to the little girl in front of me.

"I like singing too!" Annabelle jumped up and down on the spot.

"Really?! What do you like to sing?"

"I like High School Mooosical."

"Who's your favourite character?" I asked, not that I would know any of them when she answered.

"Troy... he's pretty!" She blushed again and I laughed. I was pretty sure that Troy was Zac Efron's character, "Do you know Troy? You know lots of people who live in the T.V!"

"As a matter of fact I do know him, yes!" I said and watched her smile broaden substantially.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry about this, she doesn't usually run off!" I looked up at the rough voice after noticing Annabelle's face drop at the mere sound of his voice. I caught her father's eye and stood up after smiling at Annabelle warmly. Her father's expression faltered.

"Daddy look it's Bewwa from the T.V.! She sing's the pretty songs!" Annabelle jumped up and down in excitement, but one stern look from her father and she stopped.

"Go and sit down Annabelle." He smiled at me as Edward took her to go and sit down where her father had been sitting.

"Like I said, I'm sorry about that. I told her to sit still and be quiet."

"It's not a problem..." I answered, frowning. "She looked a bit bored."

"Look lady, I don't care how much money you have. You don't have kids, and you definitely won't be telling me how to raise mine!"

"I wasn't t-"

"I get her one day a week, or when my ex-wife decides she's had enough! If I want to bring her here and keep her quiet with ice-cream then I will."

"Ok." I answered quietly, glancing over at Edward and Annabelle, watching her attack him with a spoon. "I'm sorry to bother you..." I attempted to walk past him to go to Edward but he caught my wrist and stopped me. I turned around quickly, "Was there something else?"

"Yeah... Um..." He let go of my wrist and rubbed the back of his neck much like Edward did when he was nervous, I glanced at Edward out of the corner of my eye and saw him standing staring at the two of us intently. "Did you want to maybe..." I raised my eyebrows in question, "Get a drink sometime?"

"You're joking?" I spat incredulously, looking pointedly at Edward, "Who do you think that is? My brother?"

"You can't blame a guy for trying, it's not like I haven't seen the magazines!" He joked, looking at Edward with a frown... "Jesus, can't that girl just sit down and be quiet?!"

"She's four years old!" I finally snapped, "Try taking her to a toy shop, or Disneyland... she's not entertained by Ben and Jerry's!"

Edward finally walked over, holding Annabelle's hand. He took my hand with his free one and squeezed it gently. "Come on babe, let's go."

I nodded before kneeling back down so I was level with Annabelle again. "Right sweetie, I have to go now. But you take care ok?"

She nodded with a sad smile on her face, "Can you tell Troy I said hello?"

I nodded before standing back up and looking at her father. "Give me your telephone number, actually... one where I can reach Annabelle quickly."

"You'll want her Mom's cell..." He prattled off the number and I took it down.

"Thanks." I mumbled, looking down at Annabelle, "Bye!" I waved, she waved back and then hugged Edward's leg.

"Bye smiley!"

"Bye Annabelle!" Edward laughed, and she let go of him. He took my hand again and led me out of the shop. When we rounded the corner I was pushed back against the wall and my mouth was devoured by Edward's. I groaned into the kiss as our tongues fought against each others. He pulled away to rest his forehead on mine, and his hands on my hips, we were both breathing hard.

"You're going to be the _best_ Mom." He grinned.

"And your realisation of that made you kiss me like that?" I raised an eyebrow, he nodded and I grinned, pulling his hand, "Let's go find some more kids!" He let go of my hand and I walked slowly in front of him on the sidewalk, I felt his hands on my waist from behind me and immediately leant back into him, sighing. He kissed my neck as we kept walking, the pace becoming slower and slower.

"I don't want kids yet." I whispered, he kissed my neck again and I groaned, reaching behind me and my hand finding purchase in his hair, "Not for years yet."

"Neither do I. But knowing you're going to be the best Mom in the world is kind of hot." He kissed my neck again, "And you're going to be a MILF..." He laughed into my neck and I giggled in return.

I turned in his arms and he held me close against him. "Where to now?"

He smiled at me before looking up at the building we had stopped in front of. I followed where his eyes travelled and frowned. He looked down at my confusion and laughed. "Welcome to Chez Cullen!"

***

Once we got upstairs Edward came into his own, after shutting the door, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me around so my back was to the door and kissed me again, his hands gripped my hips tightly and I groaned into the kiss as he pushed further into me. My hands tangled in his hair and pulled his face infinitely closer to me, I was desperate for him to take this further, my entire body ached for him. I arched my back, pushing my breasts into him. He pulled his lips away from mine and began on my neck and collarbone.

"God, I'm so stupid." I gasped as he began to lick and suck at the spot just behind my ear.

"Why, baby?" He grunted hoarsely, tickling my ear with his hot breath.

"I need you..." My voice was high pitched as I panted and tried to pull him closer to me.

"You have me..." He pulled away from me completely, only leaving his hands on my hips as he looked into my eyes. "But you know why we can't..."

"I know." Even I could hear the pathetic moan in my voice and I heard him chuckle lightly, his hands smoothing down my thighs and taking my hands and pulling me further into the room, he flicked the light on and stood turned his head almost shyly to look at my reaction.

The room was small, but it was full of stuff. He had CD's, papers, magazines and various notebooks filled with his scribble scattered around the room. I saw his laptop sitting on the couch with a pile of CD's on top of it, and his acoustic guitar was leant up against the arm of another chair.

"You don't happen to be a music journalist by any chance do you Edward?" I joked. He smiled and rushed forward, condensing the many piles of magazines and papers into a few bigger piles.

"I didn't think to tidy." He admitted sheepishly as he eyeballed me walking around his apartment. "It's not much I know but I t-"

"I really like it Edward!" I replied, cutting him off mid sentence. "I love places like this, where you can tell so much about the person as soon as you step into the room."

"Why haven't you done it with your place then?" He asked as he moved his laptop and the stack of CD's to the small coffee table. I peeked through one of the doors and saw his kitchen, stepping into it and losing sight of him. It was messy, but I didn't think he was a big cook. There were the remnants of pre-prepared meals on the surfaces and dishes waiting to be done in the sink. I smiled to myself at his typical boy behaviour.

"I've got stuff in loads of different apartments. I don't have enough stuff to personalise every place like this." I answered quietly, hoping he would still be able to hear me. I noticed a photo of Alice and him on the fridge and studied it for a while, they looked so comfortable together. "Hey... you and Alice never... well... you know... did you?" I turned to start heading out of the kitchen only to be met by a confused frown from Edward who was now leaning against the door frame, his legs crossed at the ankles and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Are you joking?" He shot one eyebrow up at me, almost in disgust, "It would be like a giant going out with a midget! She's like a sister to me I guess." He shrugged and smiled, the smile faded as he surveyed the kitchen, and a look of utter horror was plastered across his features.

"What?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"I _cannot_ believe that I've let you come here and left the place like this. You're going to think I'm an actual slob! I swear it's not normally like this!" He rushed to the empty food packets lying on the surface and gathered them in his arms before dumping them in the trash.

"You can say that all you want Cullen, you're about as see through as a window!" I laughed as I watched him scurry around his kitchen. "Edward..."

"I should have taken you back to yours..." He mumbled to himself as he was about to start the dishes. I walked over to him and took his hands in mine just before they dove into the soapy water.

"Hey... Stop." I reassured him with a smile and let go of his hands. He rested them on my waist and I rested mine on his shoulders, using them as leverage to pull myself up and kiss him softly. As the kiss deepened he turned us slowly until I was resting against the edge of the worktop and his hands were roaming my sides, seemingly afraid to touch me anywhere there would be a real reaction. I groaned in frustration and he kissed me harder, his grip on my hips tightening, I opened my eyes quickly to check his expression and was met with an angry frown and clenched eyes, I shut mine again, thinking it was creepy to kiss with my eyes open and took my hands down from his shoulders, smoothing them over his torso before reaching his belt buckle. He sighed heavily and took his lips away from mine, still breathing deeply and still with his eyes shut, that frown still evident.

"Edward...?" I whispered, as he still refused to open his eyes or relent that frown.

"Just give me a second." He said, holding one finger in the air to ask me to wait, his expression never changing.

After what seemed like hours his eyes opened slowly and he lifted his head so that our eyes could meet. I smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I ju-"

"Don't ever apologise for that, ok?" He interrupted with a smile.

"Yeah but I thought th-"

"I said don't apologise!" He grinned now.

"I wasn't going to!" I said in frustration, turning to walk out of the kitchen. I felt him following close behind me and then rushing to get past me before I opened the door to what was quite obviously his bedroom.

"Wait!" He shrieked, blocking my entrance, "Just let me... check." He nodded at me before opening the door just enough so that he could slip through before closing it again quickly. I laughed at his odd behaviour.

"What is it? Do you have some kind of jizz covered shrine in there for me?" I laughed as I heard him shuffling around behind the door. He didn't answer me. "I don't care if you have porn Edward..." Still no answer. I put my hand on the door handle just as it flew open, and a very flustered looking Edward appeared in front of me. He looked panicked although I could tell he was trying to act casually.

"No porn." He whispered as he moved out of my way, letting me into his bedroom.

If he'd tidied anything away then it was completely useless as his room was just about as messy as the rest of his place. The bed was just about made, although I could tell that had been a last minute attempt at tidiness. There were books, CD's, DVD's, bottles of cologne and clothes strewn about.

I laughed quietly. "So what exactly were you tidying? It was the shrine wasn't it? Covered in jizz?!"

"You're sick!" He laughed, "This is a _vast_ improvement!"

"What the fuck do you do in here that it can possibly be that bad?"

"Nothing!" He exclaimed, "I seriously don't know how it gets so messy!"

"I know why!" I said, cocking an eyebrow at him, "It's coz you're a disgusting boy!" I teased.

"Oh? And you're the perfect little princess are you?" He questioned jokingly, his hands coming to rest on my hips again as he held me a little closer to him.

"I've got an idea..." I whispered as he looked at me curiously. "I thought we could... um... relieve some tension?" I could hear the hopeful tone in my voice, but Edward's face remained unmoved as he looked at me. "Just... you know... nothing heavy." I assured him. He still didn't move so I slid my hands down my sides until they were over his. I took his hands in mine and moved them away from me slightly, pulling on them, pulling him out of the bedroom. When we were back in the living room I kept pulling him until we were both seated on the sofa next to each other. I let go of his hands and turned to face him.

"Edward?"

"Mmm?" He bit his lip, but still gave nothing away.

"Nothing heavy." I said again as I got up onto my knees, and then moved one over where he was sitting so that I was now straddling him. I levelled my face with his and looked deeply into his eyes.

"Nothing heavy." He repeated in a low, husky voice, taking my hips in his hands again, gripping tightly and squeezing more as I leant down to kiss him. He immediately groaned into the kiss, pulling me tighter against him. Our mouths moved in perfect synchronicity as our kiss intensified and it felt that with every slide of tongue and every nip with teeth, I was getting hotter and hotter, and more connected with a man I'd believed I wouldn't see again a few weeks ago.

Suddenly he groaned even louder into the kiss and pulled me hard against him... and he was... hard. His hands stayed fixed on my hips, the grip now so tight I thought he might leave bruises, but at this moment I couldn't care less. I started to let my hands roam across his torso and I felt him falter for a second before picking up again. This time when my hands met his belt buckle I pulled away from the kiss so I could gauge his reaction. He was just staring at my hands in anticipation, so, needing no more encouragement I undid the buckle and pulled the belt away, I pushed the button through the hole and undid the zip on his trousers. I shifted as he lifted his hips so that I could pull the trousers down over his hips. His boxers were majorly tented, and when I looked up at him he held a face of nervousness, so I quickly leaned back up towards him and kissed him hard on the lips while I stroked him gently over his boxers and he gasped.

His hands moved down my sides until he reached the hem of my dress on each of my thighs, he slowly pushed the dress up around my waist and held my hips again, but this time skin to skin. As if to urge him on, I tugged at the waistband of his boxers and pulled him out so that I could stroke him properly without the separation of the thin material. I pulled away from the kiss and saw his face of utter concentration, his eyes shut and his brow furrowed much like it had been in the kitchen. I took him lightly in my hand to begin with, my grip getting firmer with every stroke of my hand, twisting and swiping over the head when I reached the tip. His breathing was coming out in pants as I carried on, and then suddenly his eyes flew open and he smirked at me.

His head fell back against the couch as his hands drew a faint line across my hip bone and then found themselves at my very wet, aching, and very underwear covered centre. I rocked my hips into his hand as I continued my assault on his member, and heard him chuckle lightly, in response I gripped him a little tighter and he seemed to stop breathing.

"Fuuuuck." He breathed, lifting his head to look at me and then down at his hands.

"Take them off." I whispered, it wasn't an intentional whisper, but through the utter frustration he was bringing out in me, it was all I could muster.

"I can't Bella. I can't..." He groaned loudly, just staring at his hands, "I won't be able to... Ugh fuck... This feels so... Fuck, I won't be able to stop Bella."

"Do you want me to stop?" I breathed, hoping to God he would say no, the guy needed to get off more than I did and that was obvious, so I didn't stop my long strokes, slowly getting faster as I could feel him tensing up.

"Argh... Ugh... No! Don't stop, please don't stop!"

"Then do... _something_!" I insisted with another roll of my hips. He made a sound that could only be described as a growl as he simply pushed my panties to the side and let his finger stroke me softly, not yet reaching the place I needed him most. "Please." I whispered, rolling my hips again, "Please, Edward." That seemed to be the encouragement he needed as two fingers plunged into me as his thumb stroked my clit firmly. I almost screamed at the suddenness, but managed to dampen it to a mere whimper. I stroked him in time with his pace and soon we were both panting hard together.

"Bella... I ugh... I... fuck, I need to come." He breathed.

"I'm so close Edward, I just need a bit more." I replied, just as breathless and with such need that I could hardly contain myself. With that he sped up his small thrusts and I rolled my hips into his hand, his thumb pressed hard onto my clit while his fingers curled until he hit my spot, and I completely lost it within seconds, spasming around his fingers and moaning his name loudly, before letting my head fall forward onto his shoulder, and whispering into his ear, "Come on Edward." My eyes were shut with the sheer exhaustion and I could feel him tensing considerably as I sped up my ministrations on his cock. "Come on." I urged again, kissing his neck languidly, "Come all over me, all over my ridiculously over priced dress... ruin it." I silently prayed to the fashion God's to forgive me for my sins as he came hard, groaning my name and a string of curse words, ruining my dress in the process.

We sat on the couch intertwined for a long while before I started to move off him, he removed his fingers from me slowly and I took my hand off him. I smoothed my dress over my thighs, knowing I would have to clean it up asap and smiled at him.

"Was that heavy?" I whispered, and watched as he smirked.

"It very nearly was, you have no idea how close I was to ju-"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence." I said sternly as I pressed a finger to his lips, "I mean it." He laughed and then took my finger in his teeth, biting it lightly.

Edward let go of my finger when he noticed my dress, "God, I really did ruin it didn't I?" I looked up at him and he smirked, "Is Vivienne Westwood going to kill me?" I laughed at his recollection of the designer.

"Not once she sees you're gorgeous face!" I ran my finger along his jaw and leant down to kiss him on the lips softly before climbing off him, "I've got to get this off..."

"Do you want a shirt or something?" Edward offered, pushing himself off the couch and heading to the bedroom.

"Yeah if you don't mind..." I replied and stood gingerly in the doorway.

He opened a few drawers a dug around a bit before groaning in frustration.

"What is it?" I asked, still standing in the doorway.

"I don't know what I can give you... whatever you wear I'm going to want to rip it off you!"

I laughed in response and he turned to look at me, seemingly distressed.

"I'm serious, it's not funny!"

"Here, let me look." I offered and walked past him, shrugging my blazer off and letting it fall onto the bed. I found a red plaid shirt and turned with it to look at him. "You mind?"

"Of course not, you're welcome to anything." He shrugged, and turned to leave the room, "I'll leave you to it."

"Edward, wait!" I said quickly before he could leave, he turned with a curious smile, "I need you to do my zip, I can't reach."

He smiled broadly again and walked towards me, turning me around and slowly undoing the zip with one hand, the other smoothing down my back as it was exposed to him. I held the dress to my front as I turned around, "Can you pass me the shirt please?" I whispered seductively and watched him gulp before picking the shirt up from the bed and handing it to me.

As I turned my back to him I let the dress fall to the floor and heard him hiss behind me as he realised I wasn't wearing a bra. I smiled to myself as I stepped out of the dress and pulled the shirt around my body, doing up the buttons and turning around again with a smile on my face, his mouth was hanging open as he stared at my legs.

"Ok you're actually trying to kill me." He said flatly, while his eyes travelled up my body.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N- Hey guys! I thought I'd give you all another update coz I'm sitting at home pretty bored and couldn't think of anything to do so lucky you! **

**Unfortunately one of my fave stories on this site has just had to be deleted for violating the t&ts about mature content, have changed them so I'm a bit worried they're going to be deleting a load of stories. Hopefully not, but it's just a heads up. If anyone has another site they use then let me know and I'll start posting there aswell just in case!**

**Enjoy!**

**xxx**

EPOV

The next few weeks were amazing. I would try and see Bella every day, but due to us both working, sometimes we could only speak over the phone. I'd taken her out for a meal every time I'd seen her and it seemed to be doing the trick, I could see her becoming more herself each time I saw her. She did a couple of interviews to try and clean up her image a bit, and in the most part it was working. People could see that she had improved greatly, but her reputation would only really get better with time, and she knew that. She didn't over expose herself, choosing to stay home instead of going to parties and premieres, and only doing selected shows and interviews.

After our encounter on my couch we'd not fooled around again, both deciding it had been more than a little difficult to stop once we'd started, and although we both found our situation frustrating, we were so closely bonded that we each knew when the other needed a bit of space, or a bit of attention.

A few magazines had picked up on the fact that we'd been spotted a few times together, but as of yet nobody knew my name and so nobody could do the background check and notice that I was the one who had written the Rolling Stone article. Bella made this situation a little worse when she revealed in an interview that she had a boyfriend, and now people were connecting her with anyone and everyone around Hollywood, much to her surprise.

Currently, I was on my way to her apartment, garment bag in hand. I greeted the doorman with a smile and he let me through with no problem, I'd built quite the rapport with the staff and they all knew who I was. When I arrived at Bella's door, she opened it with a huge smile. Rollers in her hair and wearing a big white fluffy robe.

"Wow, look at you, hot stuff!" I teased and leant forward to kiss her softly on the lips, "Is she here yet?"

She turned away from me and we headed into the living room, there was a woman sitting patiently on a stool with a large amount of makeup and tools next to her, and Bella went to sit down in front of her.

"Not yet, she's on her way with her Mom." She closed her eyes as the makeup artist set about creating her signature dark eyed look. "You should put your suit on, we need to leave soon."

"Ok, well, I'll just be in the bedroom then." I said and walked in to change. Hanging up on the door of her closet was a garment bag with what I assumed to be her dress for this evening in it. As much as I was tempted to see it now, I knew it would look better on Bella, so I forced myself not to look, and to wait until it was revealed to me properly. I took my suit out of the garment bag and admired it for a second, Bella had insisted on buying it for me, saying that my wardrobe definitely lacked a good designer suit, so now I owned a very expensive, albeit very nice, Gucci suit and Prada shoes. I quickly got changed into it, and as I was just finishing off the black skinny tie that she had bought me to wear it with she came into the room, rollers still in her hair, but her make up looking flawless.

"Wow... You look..." Bella's eyes appraised me quickly, "You look good in a suit!"

"Thank you very much, it's all down to you and your amazing fashion sense!"

"Oh no," Bella shook her head, walking towards to me and smoothing her hand down my lapel, "This is all about the man _in_ the suit..."

I smiled and leant down to kiss her, but she quickly ducked away from me and laughed, "You can't do that, not tonight, you'll ruin my makeup!" I sighed with a small smile, "Now, get out, I need to get changed, and then I've got big news for you!"

"Exciting stuff!" I said as I headed out of the bedroom. I made polite conversation with the makeup lady for a little while before she was called by Bella to help her with her zip. As she headed off, there was a knock at the door, so I headed over to it and opened it, smiling broadly at the visitor.

"Annabelle!" I said enthusiastically, kneeling down to her level, "How're you sweetheart?"

"I'm sooooo excited!" She giggled, throwing her arms around my shoulders and hugging me tightly, I took a hold of her as I stood up so that I was holding her in my arms. I greeted her mother with a smile and extended my hand awkwardly to shake hers.

"Hello, my name is Edward Cullen, it's nice to meet you."

"I've heard all about you from this one," She said as she eyed Annabelle in my arms, putting her hand in mine and shaking it politely, "She seems quite taken with you!"

"Oh it's not just Annabelle," I heard from behind me, and I turned to see the source of the voice, Annabelle squirming in my arms as I knelt to let her go, "It's pretty much most women that meet him!" She laughed as Annabelle ran to her and hugged her tightly.

Bella stood again, taking Annabelle's hand in hers and walking towards me and Annabelle's mother. She extended her hand with a breathtaking smile.

"Hi, I'm Bella, lovely to meet you."

"I'm Emma, thank you for this, it's an amazing thing to do, I could hardly believe it when you phoned."

"Bewwa looks pwetty doesn't she Mommy?" Annabelle looked between the two women expectantly.

"She looks beautiful Anna, just like you!" Emma smiled down at her daughter.

Emma was a lovely looking girl, obviously still quite young, I'd say around Bella's age so she must have had Annabelle at a young age. She was wearing a simple black dress and ankle boots, while Annabelle was in a pretty pink party dress with sparkly shoes.

"Wow!" Bella said, kneeling down by Annabelle, "Look at your shoes!"

"Do you like them?" Annabelle stuck her foot out and turned her ankle to make them sparkle more, "Mommy said that famous people sparkle!"

"I love them, and your Mommy was right, you're sparkling like a little star!" Bella stood up again and looked at Emma, "Can I get you a drink or anything Emma? I'm not entirely sure what we've got but I can have a look..."

"No, no I'm fine thank you, I had something before I left." She looked down at Annabelle, "Do you need something Anna?"

Annabelle looked pained and gestured for her Mom to get closer, she whispered something in her ear and Emma laughed before standing up again. "Sorry, could she just use your loo quickly? I guess she's a bit nervous."

Bella directed them to the bathroom and then came back to me in the living room, and I finally got a real chance to look at her, she was wearing a short black dress with lace panels, the middle one falling between her breasts but she was discreetly covered by the wool blend asymmetric panels. As she was walking towards me I looked up at her face and she smiled, "Stella McCartney and Christian Louboutin."

"I'll remember!" I laughed as she reached me and wrapped her arms around me. The rollers had been taken out of her hair and it now hung in big, loose curls around her face. I breathed in deeply and caught the scent of her coconut shampoo, "What was the big news?"

I felt her laugh lightly before getting up onto her tip toes and then I felt her breath on my ear, she breathed in a little before talking, "This dress..." She paused and I stopped breathing for a second, "Is a size 4."

She pulled away from me, her hands holding onto my forearms but leaning back to look at me with a huge smile on her face.

"A size 4?" I questioned incredulously.

"A size 4." She nodded.

"You're a size 4?!" I said excitedly, her grip on my arms tightened and she laughed.

"Yes Edward! A size 4!"

"That's amazing!" I exclaimed and went to kiss her, but once again she ducked out of my grip, still laughing.

"What did I say?" She giggled, "No kissing!"

"But this _definitely_ deserves a kiss, it's _worth_ ruining the makeup!" I stepped towards her but she backed away.

"Later." She whispered and then turned to see Annabelle and Emma walking out of the bathroom.

_Later._

"Right, are you ready to go?" Bella said to Annabelle excitedly, who nodded with an enthusiasm unrivalled by anything.

"And what do you call him Anna?" Emma asked, holding onto her shoulders from her position behind Annabelle.

"Zac." Annabelle said with a confused look on her face, "But I don't know why coz his name is Troy!"

We all laughed a little and Bella went over to grab her purse, "Zac is his secret name Annabelle, only his _best_ friends get to call him Zac." She was very convincing, and I almost believed her myself, Annabelle looked enthralled by Bella's little story and looked even more excited than before if that were possible.

***

When we were in the car I could hear Annabelle whispering "Zac" to herself every now and then, obviously trying to imprint it into her mind. I sat smiling at her when I heard Emma start talking.

"So... are you two going to have kids?"

Bella cleared her throat awkwardly and I took her hand in mine. "I'm not... it's not the best time at the moment, my life is a bit crazy." Bella admitted and then turned to look at me, "At some point though, yeah, I guess we will."

Hearing Bella make plans for our future made my heart swell with pride and I beamed at her.

"You'll be a great Mom." Emma assured, looking at Bella with a small smile, "Anna loves you."

"Oh... well... I love her too, she's a great little girl."

Emma nodded we sat in companionable silence for the rest of the journey which only took about 5 minutes, Annabelle still reciting Zac's name to herself every few seconds.

Once the car stopped, the door was opened from outside and Rosalie popped her head into the car, "Hey guys, right, Emma, Annabelle, if you just head towards that door then we'll all meet you just there, there's a guy called Emmett there waiting for you, you can't miss him, he's huge. Bella, you know what to do... Edward... well... what do you want to do?"

"He's coming with me." Bella stated with certainty, I looked at her wide eyes. "It's ok Edward, I think people should know..."

"Are you sure?" I asked with a frown, not wanting her to feel pressured into this at all.

"Absolutely. They should leave you alone after a few photographs, so just stick next to me, ok?"

I nodded and then watched as Emma and Annabelle got out of the car, "See you in a bit!" Bella said, and Annabelle turned with a huge smile before quickly following her Mom.

"Right, you ready?" I nodded in response and then climbed out of the car first, then standing shielding Bella from the camera flashes so that she could climb out comfortably.

She took my hand and then we both walked forward as I was completely blinded by thousands of flashing lights and deafened by photographers shouting at us, and fans screaming for a little attention from Bella. I knew I looked a little awkward as I watched Bella stood next to me posing for the photographers, I smiled at how comfortable she looked and just decided that the only way they would get a good picture was if I never took my eyes off the beautiful girl next to me.

Once Bella felt that they'd got enough photographs we walked towards some T.V cameras and presenters, I could hardly hear what Bella was being asked, so I just smiled throughout all of the interviews, especially when she would turn to look at me, obviously answering a question about me. When she was done with all the many interviews, she headed over to the fans and signed autographs as well as having pictures taken with people. I girl asked me for my autograph and I turned to look at her with a confused smile.

"Me?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"You realise I'm not famous?"

"You write for Rolling Stone right? I think your articles are amazing."

"Thanks." I said happily, Bella turned to look at me with a confused look on her face as I signed a quick autograph, making it up on the spot as I'd never had to have one before.

"You're stealing my thunder man!" Bella moaned jokingly, before reluctantly leaving after Rosalie told her it was time to go inside. I took Bella's hand as we headed inside and kissed her temple quickly.

"Bewwa! Smileee! We're over here!" I turned to the voice with a smile and saw Annabelle and Emma standing with Emmett, Annabelle, who had taken to calling me smiley, for an unknown reason was grinning and waving manically so we walked over to them.

"How was that for you then?" Emmett said, patting my back.

"He was perfect, he even got asked for an autograph!" Bella laughed, and turned to look up at me. I so wanted to kiss her at that moment but I knew it was kind of inappropriate at a movie premiere.

"I can't help it if people love me!" I laughed and then looked up at Emmett, "Yeah, not too bad man, a bit mad, but... actually no, it was just mad!"

"Hey! They're loving you out there!" I heard Rosalie's voice, and turned to see her as she was smiling at me.

"Who? Me?" I gestured to myself with a completely confused expression.

"Of course you! The mystery man who's swept Bella Swan off her poor, partied out feet!"

"Hey!" Bella argued, but everyone else just laughed.

"No, really, they're loving it. A bit of good news after all the rubbish recently." Rosalie turned all business again and took Bella away from me for a second to say something in her ear.

While trying to make myself look busy I looked around the room absentmindedly before my eyes settled on an, even though I hate to admit it, ridiculously handsome man.

"Hey, Bells?"

"Uhuh?" Bella returned to me and linked her arm with mine, I leaned down to her ear and whispered.

"Zac's over there." I motioned with my head, and Bella turned slightly, so not to alert Annabelle.

At this point, it would be a good idea to mention that when Bella had received the invite to Zac Efron's new film, she immediately called Annabelle's mom and invited them to come along, knowing that Annabelle would be over the moon. Bella told me that she usually didn't like coming to these things, apparently, she only ever got sent invites to the really cheesey films, but she'd much prefer to go to Sundance or something much less mainstream, where she could see the indie films that she loved so much. I knew she'd been to Cannes a few times before, I'd spent some time trawling through pictures of her in a ridiculous white bikini on a yacht with some other insanely rich actors and musicians.

"I'll go get him... entertain Annabelle?"

I nodded and turned to kneel down with Annabelle, turning her back towards Bella and Zac so that she wouldn't see them approaching over my shoulder. Bella had called Zac after she'd received the invite and told him all about Annabelle and he was more than happy to meet her, Bella had told me he was very gracious on the phone and said he would introduce her to Vanessa and have a few photo's as well.

I looked over Annabelle's shoulder quickly and saw Bella talking to Vanessa and Zac.

"Are you having fun sweetheart?"

"Everyone is so pretty!" Annabelle beamed at me, a huge grin on her face.

"And so are you!" I smiled, and watched her blush.

"Bewwa is prettier than me... you _love _Bewwa."

"Annabelle, you're the prettiest girl in the room." It wasn't a lie... Bella was hot, stunning, beautiful, gorgeous... anything but pretty, it wasn't enough to describe her. And she was a size 4... I had to blink back the thoughts in my head as I looked back to Annabelle.

"So do you love me?" She blushed again, and my eyes widened, looking up at her Mom awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"Um... Of course I do sweetheart, but I love Bella too." She smiled lightly, "I'm going to ask her to _marry_ me." I whispered into her ear, and when I pulled back her face was a picture of delight and excitement.

"Now?!"

I laughed and shook my head. "Not now no, but soon, so we have to keep it a secret. Just you and me ok?"

She nodded enthusiastically, and I looked up over her shoulder again to see Bella, Vanessa and Zac walking towards us.

"I mean it sweetheart, it's a secret, just us." I whispered again before talking her hand in mine and spinning her around in my arms, my knees were sore from kneeling on the floor by her but I stayed with her so she had a little support when she finally met Zac. "Look there Annabelle, who's coming over to see you?"

I watched her face as her eyes widened exponentially and she tried to turn around in my arms. I let her and she buried her head in my neck, I looked up at Zac who had a friendly smile on his face. He must go through this every day. I took Annabelle in my arms and stood up, she still had her head buried in my neck and I whispered in her ear.

"What's up sweetie?"

"I'm nervous!" She whispered back quietly, her voice muffled by her tight grip on me.

"Hey Annabelle!" I looked to see Vanessa standing next to us with a bright smile on her face. Annabelle turned her head gently to look at Vanessa out of the corner of her eye. I sighed and put her back down on the ground, and knelt with her turning her so she was facing Vanessa.

"Are you going to say hello?" I asked her. She looked at me with a shy expression on her face and I nodded in encouragement.

At this point, both Zac and Vanessa knelt down in front of her, and then Annabelle really came into her own.

"Hi! I'm Annabelle!"

"Hey, it's lovely to meet you!" Zac said with a big smile and a little handshake.

We all knelt on the ground with Annabelle for about 5 minutes, once she started, Annabelle wouldn't stop, she asked them both questions, and answered any that asked her. They both seemed as taken with her as Bella and I had been. All three posed for a few pictures together and then Zac called over to one of his 'people' who had a big bag of HSM stuff for her, including a few things signed by the entire cast, and even one of Zac's jackets from one of the movies.

After a few more minutes, Zac and Vanessa were both called away so we all said our goodbyes, and they headed off.

Emma decided to take Annabelle home because it was getting late, and after much protest from Annabelle, she finally looked so tired she was about to drop, so it was easy for her to be taken home, Bella called for a car to make sure they got home safely.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to see the movie?" Bella turned to ask me. I cocked my head to the side.

"Is that not what you do at a premiere?"

"Well... yeah. But I thought, you might want to go... I dunno." She shrugged and I narrowed my eyes at her for a second. I really couldn't wait to go home with Bella, but we had asked Zac for a huge favour and he had more than complied, so it was only fair that we stay for his movie. Even it was cack.

"I think we should probably stay, it's only 90 minutes right?" I shrugged in return.

"93!" Bella groaned and I laughed, taking her hand and pulling her in to see the film.

***

93 excruciating minutes later we were literally running out to get into our car. I had paid absolutely no attention to the movie, but only to the woman on my right who was determined to make me regret my decision as much as possible. In the darkness of the cinema she decided she would let her hands wander, cupping me a few times and leaning in to tug my ear lobe between her teeth. My hands, in their effort to not grab her, were holding the arm rests so hard I thought they might crumble beneath me, or at least leave my hand prints in.

Once we were in the car, Bella threw herself on me and straddled my hips. My hands immediately claimed her ass, my excuse being the threat of her falling if the car was to jerk to stop.

"Is this really the best place for this Bella?"

"Oh, Seth isn't looking are you Seth?" She turned behind her, but Seth was preoccupied on driving, not looking or even seeming to hear what was being said or done. "See? Perfectly safe!"

She laughed and set to work pulling at my tie, pulling me closer to her so that she could kiss me. I groaned into the kiss, so desperate to take this further, but knowing that this was definitely not the place for it.

My hands continued to palm her ass as she started to grind into me, she let out a small whimper as she obviously felt my rather prominent reaction to her, her breathing now resembled panting as kissing became difficult, neither of us having enough breath to kiss each other deeply, meaning licks, nips and the occasional brush of lips was all we could manage.

Her grinding became harder after a short while and I let my head fall back onto the headrest, my eyes falling shut as she tugged on the lapels of my suit jacket, I groaned loudly, not caring if Seth was listening, or watching, or whatever. It became too much though, and I knew that if she carried on, I'd blow my load in the back of a car before we could truly celebrate her new size 4 figure properly. My hands which were enjoying themselves on her ass moved to her hips and I held her tight, stopping her movements. She tried still though, and I was subjected to short, hard thrusts on my cock, making me almost growl at her.

I used what little strength I had to lift her off me and put her on the chair beside me. She huffed out an angry breath and attempted to straighten herself out, she turned to look at me expectantly, obviously wanting an explanation.

"You're too much..." I shook my head, hoping that would be enough, but her face went from confused to hurt and I quickly back tracked, "No, no, no. Nothing like that... I mean, I was going to... I really fucking need to be at your apartment, right fucking now!"

She giggled at me and grabbed my hand. We sat in silence for about 5 minutes more, I was becoming more anxious by the second and I could feel my leg unconsciously bobbing up and down in my frustration to get back to Bella's place.

After what seemed like forever Seth finally pulled up and I threw the door open, rushing round to Bella's side, where Seth had already helped her out of the car, I said a quick thanks to Seth and took Bella's hand, pulling her along behind me as we walked into her building. Once we were in the elevator we both stood apart from each other and looked deep into each others eyes.

"You don't want to talk about how good the movie was then?" Bella cocked an eyebrow at me, "As you were so desperate to sit and watch it."

"Whatever ideas I have in the future, ignore them ok?" I said, I noted that my voice was slightly lower than usual, Bella seemed to notice as well.

"So what do you want to do tonight then? I've got a few DVD's we haven't seen y-"

I stopped her by pushing her against the wall of the elevator and crushing my lips to hers, she gasped into the kiss before opening her mouth and allowing our tongues to massage each other, my hands kept me upright, resting either side of her on the wall. I pulled back a little from the kiss and rested my forehead on hers.

"Shut up." I whispered, my eyes shut as I felt her quick breath fanning over my face.

I pushed away from the wall and from Bella as we reached our destination, we went into the apartment and Bella went to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. I stood in the living area, watching her as she nervously moved around, seemingly tidying things away as she went.

"What are you doing?" I asked with a small smile.

"Oh, sorry, did you want a drink?" She asked, still looking nervous as hell.

"No thanks. I was just wondering why you were tidying the kitchen?"

"It's messy..." She shrugged. I walked towards the kitchen, around the island and caught her around the waist as she tried to walk away from me. I pulled her back against me so that her back was to my chest, my arms secured tightly around her waist.

"Hey, hey, hey." I said in hushed tones, my chin resting on her shoulder before turning slightly so I could whisper in her ear. "What's up?"

"Nothing." She whispered back, her hands hanging limply by her sides.

"Don't 'nothing' me, Bella, what's wrong?" I pulled her more tightly against me and felt her relax slightly in my arms.

"I don't know." She finally sighed after a long pause, "I don't know why I'm so nervous about this. I was fine in the car!"

I chuckled quietly and straightened up, turning her in my arms, my hand finding her chin and pulling her face up so that she would look at me.

"How about we just see what happens ok? We don't have to do anything you're not ready for... nothing heavy." I reminded her of her promise to me when I was nervous about us. "You want us to stop, and we stop."

She nodded slowly as I brought my face down to hers, lining our mouths up perfectly before kissing her softly, eliciting a small sigh from her, and her hands took hold of my sides. I smoothed my hands down her sides before securing my hands together under her ass, bending my knees and lifting her up into the air, our bodies still pressed tightly together as we continued to kiss, she giggled at her new height, elevated slightly above me so I could kiss her neck happily, as I walked us across her apartment and into her bedroom. While walking she had shifted in my arms, sliding down my body a little and letting her legs wrap around me, her hands played with my hair, before sliding down my neck to my shirt collar, unbuttoning the top button and pulling the tie loose and then over my head, meaning we had to break our kiss momentarily.

When we got to the bed I pulled away from the kiss again so that I could lay her down comfortably, she held her arms out for me and I crawled on top of her, her hands pushing at my suit jacket, pushing it down each of my arms until it landed on the bed behind me, and then she started on the buttons of my shirt, doing the same with it but this time throwing it across the room before her eyes settled on me. Her eyes widened in shock as they roamed my newly exposed torso.

"And you've been hiding this from me, _why_?" She giggled lightly as I shook my head at her incredulously, leaning down to kiss her deeply. She pushed at me until I turned and was on my back, with her straddling me, her dress I had once thought beautiful, looked fucking stunning bunched up around her thighs, giving her the room to sit astride my hips, she smirked at me. "You've been holding out on me Cullen!"

"Yeah well," I shrugged, mirroring her smirk, "Couldn't have you trying to jump me every 5 minutes could I?" I ran my hands up her thighs, pushing the dress up even higher around her hips as I went, she got the hint and pulled it off letting it fall unceremoniously in a heap next to the bed. This left her in her black lacy bra and panties, I took my time ogling her as she sat on top of me, and I'm pretty sure she felt my dick twitch in appreciation.

She cocked an eyebrow at me and smirked at me, once again. "Was there something you wanted?" She teased and I had to take a deep breath to stop myself blowing a gasket.

"Off." I demanded, a little flick of the wrist indicating that she was to move. She sat still for a moment, so I took her hips in my hands and moved her off me, putting her on the bed next to where I was lying. I quickly stood and unbuttoned my trousers, pushing them down my legs, taking off my socks as I did so. Socks kind of spoil the mood. As I stood in my boxers looking at her intensely, she crawled to the other side of the bed, standing opposite me, both of us just staring into each other's eyes with a huge bed occupying the space between us.

"So, Miss Swan..." I started, a smile playing on my lips as she looked utterly confused, "What everyone really wants to know, is if there's a special someone in your life right now?" She laughed in response, her eyes focussed on the floor for a little bit before looking up at me with determination in her eyes.

"Most definitely."

"Why don't you tell us about him?" I offered for her to continue.

"Well, I'm not sure I should be sharing this with a _reporter."_ She said as she moved towards the edge of the bed, she set one knee on the edge and put a hand out in front of her, "But, he's... tall..." She moved her other knee to the bed and her other hand, "And he's got bronzey coloured hair," She started to crawl slowly towards me across the bed, "He's got a ridiculous six pack that I've only just noticed..." I smirked at her as she continued her crawl, "He's packing some serious heat..." Her eyes flicked down to my tented boxers for a nano-second before returning to my eyes, "He's perfect." She stated simply when she reached my side of the bed, sitting up on her knees so she was almost as tall as me from her platform on the bed. I stepped towards her and let my hands rest on her waist, our eyes boring holes into each other, "I love him." She stated again, causing me to step even closer to her, my knees hitting the edge of the bed, I tilted my head to the side and lowered myself slightly so that I could brush my lips over hers so softly I barely felt it. "_And..._I most definitely think I've waited long enough to have him to myself. I need him. Right now." Her arms secured themselves around my neck as she pulled me to her so that we could kiss again, this time, it was hard, and fierce, and needy. "I need _you_. Now." She reiterated against my lips.

I all but growled as I lifted her by the hips and roughly pushed her back onto the bed so that I could hover over her. As we lined our bodies up, I let my hands run up and down her sides, my palms smoothed over her ribs as I worked my way up to her lace covered breasts. My hands ghosted over the flimsy material, I looked up to see Bella staring down at my hands, her eyes lidded with lust. She leaned up ever so slightly and reached round to unclasp the offending item while I slid the straps down over her shoulders slowly, following the trail of my fingers with light kisses. I removed the bra from her and let it fall from my hands off the side of the bed. I worshipped her breasts with kisses and light fingers while I heard her breathing pick up rapidly, when I couldn't take it anymore I pulled one hard nipple into my mouth and flicked it with tongue repeatedly, hearing my name fall from Bella's lips in light whispers, I circled, pulled and pinched lightly at the other nipple before switching my attentions.

"It's... too much." Bella managed to get out in a hoarse whisper, her hands tugging at my hair in desperation for more. I pulled myself up her body again, our lips reconnecting as our desperation peaked. Our lips were frantic against each other as her hands moved down between our bodies, her now very confident hands took me and pumped me very slowly over the material of my boxers. I exhaled shakily and heard her giggle quietly beneath me.

After a few swift strokes she hooked her fingers into the waistband and pushed my boxers down my hips and down my legs, I kicked them off and onto the floor and watched as her eyes travelled down my body, resting on the newly exposed skin. I chuckled and with one hand started to pull her panties down, she lifted her hips to allow me to do it a little more easily, and then took over for me, throwing them god knows where. I smoothed my open palm over her stomach and over her hip bone, tracing the inside of her thigh with my index finger, barely letting her feel the contact until she was almost whimpering with need, and then my fingers found their goal. We both groaned as I pushed two fingers into her rhythmically, my thumb pushing at her clit making her writhe beneath me, panting and arching her back towards me.

"You're so hot." I growled, watching her head fall back into the pillows forcefully, "I want to make you come so hard." She whimpered again, her hands tangling themselves in her hair, "I've thought about making you come like this since I first met you..."

"Oh God, Edward!" She shouted as she clenched around me, I continued to pump in and out of her until she came down from her high, a relaxed smile graced her features as her eyes opened slowly, she reached up to me as I leaned down to kiss her again, my tongue tracing the lines of her beautiful lips before finally letting our lips connect, as I pulled away to plant kisses across her collarbone and the column of her throat she tightened her grip on my neck and whispered in my ear.

"I need you, right now."

I groaned against her neck, feeling myself grow exponentially harder with every word she spoke. Using both of my arms I pushed myself up and away from her. "Um... have you got any..."

"Top drawer." She said with a quick flick of her head to the appropriate drawer.

I leaned over her and dug around in the drawer for a few seconds, feeling her hands exploring my torso as I did so. When I found a condom I sat up on my knees and quickly put it on, Bella watching me the entire time like it was fascinating. I cocked an amused eyebrow at her.

"Enjoying yourself there?"

"You have no idea..." She said dreamily as I looked at her with a completely confused look on my face.

"You could have done it if you find it so interesting!" I joked.

"Fine, I will next time." She replied with a shrug, smiling as she saw my incredulous reaction.

"You're not completely normal, you know that right?" I laughed as I descended towards her again, throwing the empty foil wrapper to the corner of the room. She smirked at me before shrugging again, and pushing me so that we turned until I was on my back with her straddling my thighs. I took in the stunning sight that sat above me, and then had to shut my eyes abruptly, trying to keep myself from blowing for as long as possible.

Bella started running her fingers lightly over my chest and abdomen, tracing each muscle slowly and precisely.

"Bella..." I groaned in warning. I heard her giggle above me before I felt the most amazing pressure on my dick. I opened my eyes to look at her, and saw myself completely sheathed in her. "Fuck!" I growled, my hands whipping out to her waist, holding her there for a second, it was absolutely fucking imperative that she didn't move in that instant.

I looked at her face, her eyes were shut, a small smile on her lips, and her breathing hard, coming out in tiny, almost inaudible whimpers and gasps.

"Edward, I need to..." She didn't finish, but lifted herself ever so slightly before coming back down again, "Shitttt." She whispered.

I clenched my eyes tight, and sat unmoving as she began to rock herself back and forwards, up and down on my cock, both of us groaning and whispering each other's names the entire time.

When it became too much, her pace too slow, her movements too small, I turned us, so she was now lying on her back, with me once again hovering over her. My weight on my arms either side of her.

I slowly began thrusting in and out of her, and the change was almost immediate, she tightened her grip on my back and whispered for me to go harder, to go faster.

"Shit, Bella..." I groaned, letting my head fall onto her shoulder as I did as she asked. She responded perfectly, moaning loudly and her fingernails digging into the skin of my back.

"Oh my God..." She panted, one hand now gripping my hair tightly, keeping my head buried in between her shoulder and neck, "Oh my God, Edward!"

"Can you handle a bit more?" I breathed out into her ear and I felt her nod in response, her mind obviously not allowing her to speak freely.

With that I started to really pound into her, hard, fast, deep thrusts, one after the other in quick succession, each thrust brought with it a growl from my throat and the headboard hit the wall rhythmically with our thrusts, the sounds becoming the perfect soundtrack.

I felt Bella start to clench around me and I shut my eyes in pure happiness as I felt her beginning to come around me.

"That's it baby... Come for me..." I whispered, biting down gently on her shoulder as I heard her whimper again, her hand pulling at my hair roughly. She came a little after, screaming my name with some choice curse words. As she came down from her high I continued my pace, but felt myself becoming more erratic and out of control with every thrust and growl that I made.

Bella, through her orgasm induced high, started to lift her hips, allowing me a deeper target, and I was determined to make her come again before I gave in. I continued my attack on her and started to rub her clit with my thumb, and felt her starting to clench again, I smirked to myself, lifting myself from Bella's neck so that I could see the look on her face as she came again.

It seemed to be completely unexpected to her, simply shouting "Shit!" at me as her eyes clenched shut, with that, I came almost immediately after, growling her name as she milked me of everything I had.

I collapsed onto her, and felt her sigh, playing with my hair languidly while I tried to summon up the strength to move. When I did pull myself out from her, I rolled onto the bed next to her, I sorted myself out quickly, disposing of the condom discretely and looked at her almost nervously, not knowing what she was going to say. She surprised me.

She _laughed._

She fucking laughed.

Right after the best sex I'd ever had. Hands down. She _laughed._

"What?" I asked frowning, almost frantic that it was the end of us.

"Nothing..." She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand and turning her head away from my gaze.

"Seriously... what?" I asked, now leaning up on my elbow, desperate to know what had happened.

"I just... I can't believe I almost didn't do that tonight... I would have missed a fucking _awesome_ night!" She laughed again, "You got skills baby!"

This time I laughed and pushed her shoulder lightly, making her fall flat onto the bed, I rolled closer to her and leaned up on my elbows so that I could get close enough to her face to kiss her.

"You made me think I'd done something horribly wrong!"

"Oh, baby!" She pouted, her hand cupping my cheek, "Would you call 3 orgasms horribly wrong?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely not!" I stated adamantly.

We both laughed before I leant down to kiss her again, this time, the frantic heat was gone, but it was there, simmering away beneath the surface, reading to boil over at any moment.


	16. Chapter 16

BPOV

That was perhaps the best night of my life. I'd never felt so connected, so in tune with another person, damn it, I'd never so felt so God damn needy as I did before that night, but Edward more than satisfied my hunger, my thirst, my ache for him. I said it before and I have no problem saying it again... He's got skills!

The next few weeks were almost blissful. I say almost because ever since the premiere, people were on the hunt for who the elusive 'Edward' was. He was enjoying googling himself and finding his name on fan blogs, many were very observant and had picked up on exactly who he was just by his name, others were not so quick on the uptake and were still speculating. Although Edward seemed to be excited by the novelty of the situation at the moment, I knew that one day it would become too much, and I was worried about what would happen when that day came.

Where Edward seemed to be getting relatively good press, the same could not be said for me. It's not that it was bad, but the way they were portraying our relationship was upsetting. Many said that Edward was 'convenient' and 'clean cut', and that I was using our supposed relationship to boost my waning career and dicey reputation. When I saw articles like that my heart would clench, but then I would turn and see Edward sprawled out on the couch with a huge bag of Doritos and watching South Park on the television, and I would laugh to myself, convenient and clean cut?

The sex had gotten better and better, it seemed that on the night of the premiere, we'd created some kind of monster in the two of us, not being able to get enough of each other. He would constantly be coming up behind me if I was in the kitchen, on the phone, writing, practicing... any kind of routine activity for me would be derailed and completely forgotten about when he would put his hands on me. He continued working at Rolling Stone, and if he was getting teased for our relationship then he certainly didn't let on to me, he'd go to the office three times a week, and he always tried to schedule it so that it would be on a day where I was busy or otherwise occupied. We were still in that stage where we felt like we needed to spend as much time together as possible, and his excuse was always that he didn't like leaving me alone.

Tonight however, was different. He'd had to leave town this morning, grabbing a flight to L.A. to do an interview and feature on an up and coming band, he'd only be gone the one night, but I was already missing him... It was ridiculous really. We'd been together every night since the premiere, mainly hiding out at his now girl friendly apartment, the photographers hadn't discovered where he lived yet, so it was nice to have somewhere we could be alone, but now I was sitting alone in the middle of my huge couch, absentmindedly flicking through channels. If anything good was on, I was completely oblivious, but it was past midnight, and I doubted there would be anything worth watching on.

I eyed my iPhone that was sitting beside me on the couch. I'd been desperate to call him or at least text him since he'd left this morning, but I'd resisted, thinking it was such a possessive girlfriend thing to do. When he'd left this morning he'd apologised so many times that in the end even I thought he'd done something wrong. I didn't want him thinking I completely depended on him now to get along with a daily routine, so I'd tried my best to show him that I wasn't upset, angry or whatever by getting down on my hands and knees and giving him something to remember me by.

I sighed heavily, wishing that someone... anyone would ring me. I needed something to do that didn't involve me sitting around my empty apartment staring into nothingness. I huffed and stood up, tossing the tv control on the couch and dragging my feet all the way to kitchen, pulling open the fridge door, looking in it for all of thirty seconds before shutting the door and opening the freezer, repeating the action. I huffed again and leaned against the island, becoming fascinated with a drawer handle. I pushed myself away from the island and grabbed a glass from one of the cupboards, filling it up with water from the tap before chugging it down as fast as I could manage and setting the glass back on the counter so hard I winced in anticipation of it breaking.

As I did an internal happy dance at the lack of broken glass I had caused I heard a faint ringing from the couch. I all but sprinted to answer it, but by the time I'd got there it had stopped.

_Missed call – EC_

"No!" I yelped and slid my finger across the screen quickly, working my way around the touch screen to call him back, I pressed it against my ear as it started to ring.

"Come on, come on, come on..." I whispered, and then sighed in relief when I heard his voice in my ear.

"Hey baby..." He whispered, his velvet tones transferred beautifully over the phone and I blushed even thinking about him. I'm so sad.

"Edward..." I breathed out, the relief was evident.

"You ok?"

"Would it be _really_ awful if I said I missed you... like... crazy times miss you?" I took my thumb between my teeth waiting for his answer, already embarrassed. But I heard him let out a deep breath.

"Only if that makes me really awful aswell!" He chuckled, and I smiled to myself, happy to know I wasn't the only crazy one in this, "For some reason this just isn't the same as the last time I covered an artist on tour..." I could hear the playful tone in his voice, and decided to play along.

"Oh really? No one of interest?"

"Well, there's this _really_ hairy roadie, he reminds me of this girl back home..."

"You better not be referring to me Cullen!" I said with mock anger.

"No baby, of course not! There's just... Nothing here." He breathed quietly into the phone.

"Where are you?" I whispered.

"In my hotel room... I saw the show and left, the band don't do the whole after party thing I guess..." I could picture him shrugging and smiled.

"Oh God, at least we entertained you while you were with us!" I joked, although I could sense he wasn't enjoying his little trip away, and I was aching to make it better for him.

"Yeah you did..." He sighed, and I heard a thud, I guessed it was his head hitting the wall.

"What can I do?" I whispered to him.

"Come to L.A?" He pleaded, and I giggled quietly before hearing him sigh again... Jesus, he was on a downer tonight.

"You're only there for the night Edward, by the time I would get there, you'd want to be on your way back."

"At least you're entertaining the idea..." I knew I'd made him smile just a little, "You sure you don't want to just come here anyway?" He almost joked, but I could tell there was still a little seriousness in his question.

"How were the band?" I changed the subject.

"Can we not? Please? Sorry... it's not that I don't want to talk to you about it, it's just that I've waited all fucking day to hear your voice, and I don't want to be thinking about those idiots while I'm talking to you..." He literally groaned his entire little speech and I frowned.

"Is there something wrong Edward?"

_No answer._

"Edward?"

I heard him take a deep breath, "No, nothing's wrong. I just miss you, that's all."

"You'll see me tomorrow, it's not much longer. I'll meet you at the airport."

"You don't have to baby, I'll get a cab or something..."

"Don't be stupid Edward, I can tell something's not quite right, and you don't have to tell me, but I'm going to meet you at that airport, ok?" I used my sternest possible voice.

"I didn't mean to worry you Bella..."

"You can tell me you know?" I reassured him with a whisper.

"Why do you keep whispering Bella? Is there someone there you don't want me to know about?" His playful tone seeping back into his previous depressive state, but obviously trying to change the subject.

"Oh, only Zac, I invited him around to 'thank him properly' for the other week." I shrugged.

"Oh how very chivalrous and selfless of you Bella!"

I sighed and let myself sink back onto the couch, but even with Edward's breathing I could tell he still wasn't happy. Something was upsetting him, and I was desperate to get to the bottom of it.

"Fuck..." He groaned and I heard another thud as his head connected with the wall again.

"Edward, please tell me what's wrong?" I literally begged.

"Tell me that you miss me?" He whispered, and I frowned.

"I miss you."

"Tell me that you want me..."

"I _always_ want you." I stated with a smile, and I heard him groan again.

"Tell me you love me."

"I love you." I said vehemently, "I love you." I repeated, waiting for whatever response he would come back with, but I got nothing. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow, I promise. If I tell you now then I won't be able to do my job tomorrow."

"Fine..." I said, willing to let him do whatever he needed for his work, after all, he'd been quite willing to let me parade around in underwear for a recent photo shoot, although I'm sure that had more to do with the fact that I got to keep my outfits. I decided quickly to change the subject to something I _knew_ he would enjoy, something he could use to release some tension.

"Are you going to tell me you want me aswell then?" I asked innocently.

"Huh?" He sounded confused.

"I told you I wanted you... and I got nothing in return... A girl could get upset about that!"

"Oh Bella, you have _absolutely_ no idea how much I want you." The growl in his voice was heavy and made me breathe a little deeper.

"Zac's not really here you know..." I said innocently again, twisting a strand of my hair around my finger, "I'm _all_ alone in this big apartment..."

"Yeah?" I heard a shuffle, and then he seemed more focussed, "I don't need to worry about Efron then?"

"Nuhuh." I shook my head, "No contest."

"Where are you?" His voice deep and gravelly.

"Just sitting on the couch, where are you?"

"On the bed, the lights are off, I can't stand the light, the room is too empty." I smiled sadly, I knew exactly how he felt, being on tour since I was young, I'd known my share of empty, faceless hotel rooms, "What are you wearing?"

"Um..." I looked down at myself, I didn't look too shabby, so I told him the truth, "The gray shorts and white tank I wear for bed." I swear I heard a groan his end of the line.

"The really _really _short ones?"

"Do you like them baby?" Another groan.

"You drive me crazy..."

"Really? Well what if I told you that I'm just about to take my top off?"

"I'd tell you to get it done quicker." He said huskily. I shivered and tugged my tank over my head, throwing it on the floor by the couch.

"Done." I stated simply, waiting for a reply but getting none.

"Seriously?" He whispered after a short silence.

"Yep, it's sitting on the floor."

"Are you... I mean... What are you..." I heard him breathe deeply, "What are you doing right now?"

"Right this second?" I answered, "I'm sitting on the couch with just my shorts and panties on... waiting for you..."

"For me?"

"I need you to tell me what I'm doing here Edward."

"Fuck... I... I've never... Urgh..." He groaned, "Are you going to touch yourself?"

"If you want me to..." I whispered, hoping the desperation wasn't obvious over the phone. I heard him groan again, louder this time, and the thud travelled down the phone line once again.

"I want you to..." He sounded nervous, and I knew he hadn't done this before, "I need to... would you mind if I...?"

"Edward, that's kind of the point..." I joked, and heard him laugh nervously on the line.

"Okay..." He breathed, obviously not knowing where to start the conversation.

"What do you want me to do Edward? What would you do to me if you were here?"

"Um... I would probably run my fingers along your collarbone... coz I know you like that...?" He said it as a question, which I thought was adorable. I slowly brought my hand up to my collarbone but stopped before I let my fingers touch.

"Do you want me to do that then?"

"Yes..." He was still hesitant.

"Yeah?"

"Yes." He replied, definitely more sure than before, "And I want you to work your way to your tits aswell because I would definitely be working them with my mouth..."

I felt a sharp throb between my thighs as he became more and more sure of himself, and I did as he asked, running my hand along my collarbone and then down to my breasts, circling the nipple of one before pinching and tugging on it when I couldn't take anymore.

"Oh God, it feels so good Edward..." I breathed heavily down the phone, my eyes shut as I focused on the sensations, I moved my attention to my other nipple as I heard Edward's breath quicken, "Do you want to know what I want to do to you?"

"Fuck... Yes. Please tell me Bella..." His breathing was ragged I knew he was already touching himself.

"I'd undo your pants, and just dive my hand straight into your boxers..." I heard a grunt and an indecipherable cursed whisper, "I'd touch you lightly at first, and then I'd wrap my hands around you and move it up and down really slowly, so that I can feel all of you..."

"I'm doing it Bella..." He all but panted, "It's too slow... I can't... I need..."

"Patience..." I whispered, teasing him slightly, "I'll go faster when I'm good and ready!"

"Touch yourself now Bella... I want you circle your clit slowly, tell me how wet you are..."

I reached down and slid my hands under my shorts and panties before feeling the heat and moisture coming from between my legs, as soon as my fingers came into contact with my hot skin I let out a little whimper.

"Shit Bella..."

"Edward I'm _so _wet... you have no idea..." I groaned, circling my clit like he'd told me to. "Go faster... and run over the top with your thumb before coming down again."

There was no response from him other than a puff of breath and small little grunts. "Turn your wrist a bit aswell..." I suggested.

"Fuuuck... I need you so bad right now... Press on your clit with your thumb... just gently..." I could tell he was finding it difficult to speak, but I did as he said, I could feel my body trembling with need, "Put one finger inside you... just one..."

I did as he said again, and I once again whimpered at the feel of my own hand on myself, "I need more..." I whined, "Please?"

"When I'm... Fuck, when I'm good and ready." He teased, repeating my own words back to me, but I could tell he was closer to the brink than me, so my wait was short.

"Add another... curl them like you know I would... and go faster, I like to see your face when I go faster." His voice was barely audible now due to the strain he was putting on himself, but I did what he said and felt the coil in my stomach tighten dramatically instantly.

"Oh... Oh... Edward!" I almost shouted, my hand working furiously in my panties.

"Are you close Bella? I really need to come... I need to..."

"Just a few mo- FUCK!" I exclaimed as my sudden orgasm took me by surprise, the top half of my body lifting completely off where I had been lying on the couch with the intensity.

I breathed heavily into the phone, "Come right now Cullen." I whispered as seductively as possible, his grunting was almost rhythmic, as I guessed he was grunting with every pump of his hand. "Imagine you're in my mouth hitting the back of my throat... as far as you can go..."

"Bella you're so fuc- SHIT BELLA!" He shouted loudly before going deadly silent, apart from the sound of his laboured breathing. I shut my eyes and listened as it slowly calmed down, and then I heard a low chuckle.

"You still there baby?"

"Where else would I be?" I whispered, unable to project my voice much.

"Have I told you that I love you lately?"

"Not lately..." I lied, he tells me every day, multiple times a day.

"I love you so much..." He sighed deeply, "I wish you were here..." He said sadly. And we were back to depressed Edward.

"I wish I was there too... But I will be there at that airport tomorrow ok?"

"Okay baby." He whispered sadly again before groaning, "It's shockingly late over there Bella, why did you let me keep you up?"

"I like hearing your voice..." I admitted with a shrug.

"You need to sleep, the lack of energy is obviously making you delirious!" He joked.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too. Now, go put your top on and go to bed... No dreams of Efron, ok?"

"I'll try." I said rolling my eyes, "And you're going to tell me what's wrong tomorrow... I mean it. I'll find a way of getting it out of you."

"Oh baby, you always get it out of me." He laughed, "Bed. Now."

"Oooh! Are you _ordering_ me to bed Edward?" I laughed back, "That's really kind of hot."

"Yeah?" He sounded surprised.

"God yeah..."

"Well... I'll keep that in mind. But you really should go now, ok?"

"Okay." I agreed with a nod and a subsequent yawn, while leaning down to pick up my discarded tank.

"I'll call you tomorrow baby."

"Ok, love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight."

"Night." I replied softly and pressed end on my phone before getting up and turning the lights off, heading to my bed. _Our_ bed.

Just as I was getting settled, a text came through on my phone, so I grabbed my phone off the side and looked at it with a smile.

_You're amazing. And I love you. I'll tell you everything 2moro. Try not to worry. Have I told you that I love you? E xxx_


	17. Chapter 17

EPOV

"Great guys, thanks for that, we're all done and I've got a plane to catch." I said, looking up at the four guys who were casually talking amongst themselves while I grabbed my voice recorder from the table between us.

"You get all you need man?" Sam asked genuinely, and I nodded with a small, grateful smile.

"It should be a good article, the magazine will send you the proof and you can let us know what you think. I really should get going though, I'm sure I'll see you soon." I grabbed my bag and tried to make a hasty retreat, desperate not only to see Bella, but also just to get away from these guys.

"Say hi to Bella for me." Embry said with a smirk. I ignored him and left the building, bundling into a taxi and heading to the airport.

***

After a quiet, trouble free flight, I was giddily happy when we landed, and due to the fact I only took a carry on I worked my way through the airport with ease, not having to go to baggage reclaim and avoiding the big crowds there.

I slowed down when I got to arrivals, not wanting to seem as desperate as I was. I walked calmly through the gate and looked through every face in the crowd, my gaze settled on a stunning woman, who had her hood up and her wayfarers on, she had a huge, beautiful smile that I recognised immediately, and I think I may have returned her smile. I headed for her, not caring if I was getting in the way of the other passengers. When I got to her I dropped my bag by my feet and stepped one step closer to her, but not touching her, our bodies were as close as possible without touching each other and I leaned my face down so that our eyes and lips were lined up, but still not touching.

I felt her breath fanning across my face and I shuddered slightly, the lack of touch excruciating.

"Hey..." I whispered.

"I've missed you." She whispered back, our lips so close they were almost touching when either of us spoke.

"You have no idea." I sighed, desperately wanting to take her in my arms, but the lack of touch strangely exhilarating and exciting. She tilted her head to the side slightly and I mirrored the action, making it easier to access her mouth.

"Want to head home?" She whispered again, and I shut my eyes at the feeling of her breath on me, I simply nodded and she turned and headed off towards the exit. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, picked up my bag, and followed her with a smile.

I threw my bag into the back and climbed into the passenger seat, watching Bella with a strange fascination as she turned the key and started the car, she peeled off and started the short journey home as I let my head fall back onto the head rest and closing my eyes in the relief of being back with Bella.

"Um... did you want to go to yours or...?" Bella questioned quietly.

"Have I got enough stuff at yours for a night?" I opened my eyes and lifted my head to look at her concentrating on weaving in and out of traffic.

"I think so."

"Would you mind if I stayed at yours then?"

"Of course I don't mind!" She shook her head and glanced at me, "You know... Actually, you know what? Don't worry."

"What?" I asked, my interest piqued.

"Nothing really, it doesn't matter."

"Bella, just tell me." I rolled my eyes.

"After you tell me what was bugging you last night."

"Later." I said curtly and rested my head on the head rest again in irritation.

"Then later for me as well!" She huffed, changed gear harshly and put her foot on the gas.

We spent the rest of the journey in an awkward silence until she pulled into her underground parking space. We both got out and I grabbed my bag, quickly heading round to her side where she was standing, waiting to lock the car.

"Hey." I said, grabbing her hand as she turned to go inside, the long awaited touch sparking a passion inside me. "I've missed you." I said, and turned her so that I could lean down and plant a small, soft kiss on her lips, before pulling away and seeing her sigh in contentment.

"Ok stud, let's go inside." She joked, and we both walked to the elevator hand in hand.

***

4 hours later and we'd spoken about everything other than what had been mentioned in the car, I guessed that she wouldn't bring it up again due to my harshness in the car, so I figured when I was ready, I would approach the subject.

We sat and ate dinner quietly, glancing at each other every now and again, I could feel my need for her growing, but we needed to have this conversation before anything could happen, because I knew she was worried.

We finished dinner and we headed for the couch, I sat looking at the blank T.V. screen while she curled up under my arm, her head resting contently on my chest. Both of us just enjoying the quietness of being together.

"Bella?" I said softly.

"Hmm?" She hummed against my chest.

"Sit up baby." She sat up slowly. Turning to the side so she sat cross legged facing me on the couch. I looked at her intensely, trying to think of the best way of starting this.

"What happened while you were away?" She whispered, looking absolutely terrified of the answer.

"Um... Well, the band that I was covering..." I cleared my throat, never taking my eyes from hers, "They knew who I was."

"Right ok, so they knew about me I take it?" Her hands fidgeted in between her crossed legs, I nodded. "So, what happened after that?"

"One of them... he said he knew you..." She looked puzzled, "His name was Embry?"

She ducked her head down so that her hair fell in front of her face. "I didn't know you then." She said so softly that I wasn't sure if she'd even said it until she looked up at me, her eyes gathering pools of unshed tears.

"Baby, I know." I said softly, reaching forward for her hands, my thumbs stroking across the back of them. "But he told me something..."

"What?" She suddenly looked panicked.

"It's just... well... he happens to be good friends with another reporter..."

"Why didn't he get them to write the stor-" She stopped suddenly, realisation dawning on her, and her eyes widening in anger, pulling her hands from mine harshly and jumping from the couch and pacing the room, "Jacob Black? He's friends with Jacob _fucking_ Black!" Bella shouted. "He told him everything, I should have _fucking _known!"

I sat in silence, thinking it best to let her vent her anger, but she turned to me, tears streaming down her beautiful face.

"What did he tell you?" She gasped through the tears. I opened my mouth to speak but closed it again, stunned into silence. "Edward, please? What did he tell you?" The devastation clear on her face. She worked her way over to me and climbed onto my lap, straddling me, her hands holding either side of my face hard, leaning her forehead against mine, still while shaking with her tears.

"Tell me." She whispered, utterly defeated.

"He was just... Well he found great pleasure in telling me exactly how you liked to be... taken." I gulped, hearing her suck in a breath, "He told me you'd begged him, and that if you saw him again... then you'd beg again." I closed my eyes thinking about the next thing he'd said, it made my blood boil and I was physically shaking.

"There's more?" Bella asked, "He told you more?"

I nodded, my eyes still shut tightly, still shaking with pent up anger. I'd had to ignore the fuckwit the entire time I was with the band, not even able to interview him neutrally, all of my questions were laced with some kind of insult of hidden anger.

"He told me... he... _hit_ you while you were..." I heard myself let out such a harsh breath that a deep guttural noise followed, "That you _let_ him hit you. You were covered in bruises, and you kept going back."

We sat still for a long while, neither of us moving, and the only noise our laboured breathing. My eyes remained clenched tight and my hands resting at my sides in fists, unable to touch her for fear of her reaction, although all I wanted to do was hold her and make everything better. I could tell that this was something that she wasn't proud of, and to be honest, I didn't care about her relationship with him, I just cared about _her._

"He..." She started shakily, I opened my eyes slowly to look at her, our foreheads still resting against each others and her eyes shut tightly. "He had this... control over me. I did everything he wanted me to. He asked me to beg, and I begged. I didn't know what I was doing." The tears started again, but this time, they were calm, rolling slowly down over her flushed cheeks. "It was my first _proper_ relationship, I'd never had a steady guy before, I just wanted to make him happy."

"Bella?" I whispered, my fingers coming up to her chin and lifting her face, she opened her eyes and we looked at each other.

"He wasn't always rough. He was really nice at first, but then... I don't know. He only hit me in bed, it started off with like... spanking you know? But it got worse, he told me that I'd like it, that I'd get used to it, that it was how I wanted to be taken."

"You didn't tell him you didn't like it?"

"I just wanted to make him happy." She whispered, repeating her earlier comment. "Do you hate me?"

My eyes widened in surprise and my hands grasped her hips, firmly but not tightly.

"Why the fuck would I hate you?!" I almost shouted, but reigned myself in.

"Because I'm an idiot!" She wailed and threw her arms around me, her head falling onto my shoulder while she wept uncontrollably.

"You're _not _an idiot Bella!" I reassured her, stroking her back while her body heaved in sobs. "You made a mistake, I've made mistakes too, but I _love_ you. I love you _so _much Bella you have no idea. I do hate Embry though..."

She lifted herself from my shoulder and looked at me, her eyes bloodshot and puffy.

"What mistakes have you made?" She sniffed.

"Apart from leaving you?" She nodded, and I rolled my eyes, "We're having the exes talk already?" She nodded again, a small grin appearing on her flushed features. "Um... I... went out with a girl for 2 years, and for a year and 8 months I knew she was cheating on me with multiple guys..."

"Why did you stay with her?" Bella gasped, pushing on my chest so she was sitting upright on my lap, still her legs either side of me.

"Um, well... my parents liked her." She quirked an eyebrow at me, "She was really hot..." She scoffed, "And I thought that maybe she'd realise that I was enough for her..." I admitted with a shrug.

Bella shifted on my lap and I looked up at her, her wide eyed expression catching me off guard.

"You weren't _good enough_ for her? Was she mental?"

I laughed quietly, shaking my head. "Obviously baby, I mean... _look at me!" _I joked, my admission of my mistake lifting the mood considerably, and she laughed, hitting my chest playfully. "Can you kiss me please baby? I've missed you like crazy!"

She leant down swiftly and covered my lips with her own, no teasing required, this was a deep, passionate, tell all kiss. Our lips parted instantly and our tongues met, neither fighting for dominance, both of us just happy to be together. I heard her whimper into the kiss slightly, and I groaned in response, feeling my chest tightening and desperately needed a breath. I pulled my head back slightly, but her lips remained clamped to mine. I knew that she needed to breathe as well because I could feel her tensing above me.

"Mmbells..." I managed to get out still while kissing her, she shook her head, determined to carry on, and used her tiny weight to push me further back onto the sofa so that I was on my back with her above me. Her tiny hands pushing my shoulders down into the couch cushions. When my need for breath was in absolute desperation I took her face in my hands and literally prised her off me. We both gasped immediately, taking a long time to calm ourselves before I looked at her incredulously.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I asked, my breathing shallow and frequent.

"Sorry..." She blushed sheepishly, "I thought you might change your mind half way through."

"Change my mind?" I looked at her with a slight squint, "About what?"

"How much of an idiot I am?"

I sat up as far as I could with her still on top of me and took her face in my hands, "I think we've come to the conclusion that we're both idiots. I'm not changing my mind. I love you."

"I love you too." She whispered, "So much."

"Then can we stop this near death kissing? Regular will do, because to be honest they're pretty mind blowing."

"What about Embry?"

"What about him? I'll write the fucking story and forget about him. He's not a part of our lives."

"Kiss me again?" Bella asked sweetly, so I kissed her softly before pulling away with an eyebrow quirked.

"See? Normal kisses are nice too!"

"Shut _up!_" She said and pushed me back down onto the couch, kissing me deeply.

"Wait wait wait." I murmured into the kiss, hearing her groan and watching her sit up again.

"What is it? You can't run out of breath that quickly!"

"You never told me what you were going to say in the car."

"Oh, it's nothing... really." She shrugged and leaned down to me again, but I held her away, putting my outstretched hands on her shoulders.

"Bella..." I warned.

"For fuck sake." She huffed, climbing off me. I immediately mourned the loss of her body on top of mine, but swung my legs around so that we could sit on the couch facing each other, both of us cross legged.

"Last night..." She started, and I raised my eyebrows, "I was thinking about us..."

"As was I." I said with a small smirk, and was surprised when she hit my chest.

"Not that!" She laughed, "I was thinking how stupid it is that you keep coming and going from your place to here..."

I nodded, a small glimmer of hope igniting in my heart.

"I thought that maybe..." She took a deep breath and looked into my eyes intensely, "Maybe you wanted to move in here... with... me?"

I knew the grin on my face was lighting up the apartment brighter than Times Square as I lunged for her, pushing her back onto the couch and smothering her with kisses all over face, neck and collarbone, her laughter warming my heart.

"I'm enjoying this response better than a verbal agreement!" She laughed, her hands finding my hair and tugging it slightly as I kissed her, my tongue taking swipes every now and again at her exposed flesh.

I reached down between us and brought her shirt up over her head, throwing it behind us haphazardly, then quickly unfastening her bra and throwing that as well. This was not going to be slow, I'd missed her like crazy while I'd been away and was craving her like nothing else.

I took one nipple into my mouth and licked, nipped and sucked, listening to her whimpers and moans while I twirled and pinched the other one with my fingers. I switched breasts after I felt I'd lavished the first with the appropriate amount of attention and listened as her whimpers became louder and louder, my name rolling off her tongue over and over.

I quickly worked the button and zip of her jeans and pushed them hurriedly down her legs, throwing them on the floor, I crawled back up her body quickly, loving the way her chest was heaving with every breath she took.

"It's ridiculous how much I want you." I whispered hoarsely into her ear. "I've never felt anything like this."

She could only whimper as I plunged my hand into her panties to gauge how ready she was for me, and _damn_ she was ready. She bucked her hips into my hand once before I pulled away so that I could tear the panties from her body and throw the torn material away.

"Hope they weren't expensive love." I chuckled, watching her wide eyed expression following the torn material to its resting place.

"Everything's expensive." She gasped and then attempted to tear my shirt from me, but it didn't work, so I pulled it swiftly over my head before undoing my jeans and pulling myself out, stroking myself a few times as I did so.

"Open your legs baby." I ordered, "Now."

"Oh God." Bella's head fell back and her eyes closed while she spread her legs for me.

I thrust into her hard and heard her scream at the contact. Her torso arching so far she was almost sitting up, I pushed her back down and thrust into her again, each time the feeling more intense, more powerful. The throbbing in my dick was uncontrollable and I was starting to feel the pulse all over my body, as I slammed into her again and again.

I couldn't concentrate on what she was shouting, but I knew it was good, whatever it was, my name was constantly on her lips. I shut my eyes and sped up, my hips having a mind of their own as they found a quick, hard rhythm. I took my mind off the sensations I could feel when connected with Bella like this and tried to concentrate on her.

"Fuck Edward! Fuck!" She shouted, her hands finding purchase in my hair and tugging hard.

Bella rolled to the side slightly and I lost my balance, both of us hurtling to the floor next to the couch, her ending up on top, impaling herself on my cock with the hard landing.

"Ungh!" I grunted, my hips pushing up into her. She rode me hard, her hands pushing on my chest so she could rise higher and drop from further. The fire building inside me was unbearable, and I could barely keep my eyes open to look at what was happening above me. My hands were shaking uncontrollably, so I put them on the ground next to me and used all the strength I had to push myself up off the floor as she came down on me, making the connection incredible and mind blowing.

"Still trying to kill me Swan?" I shouted as she continued her assault on my cock. She laughed as best she could through her efforts.

I grabbed her hips and literally threw her onto the ground next to me, after checking that she wasn't hurt and hadn't hit her head I continued ploughing into her with such force that it shocked even me.

"You're going to have to... Ungh... Come soon Bella!" I pleaded.

"I don't... want... to!" She shouted between thrusts.

"You'll be short changed then... sweetheart." I ground out.

"It's too good!" She shouted.

"Please Bella." The desperation of my situation evident in my plea.

She groaned loudly, and I felt her start to shudder underneath me. I looked at her face and watched as her mouth opened and shut in quick succession. I smiled to myself, before realising I was closer to coming than I'd thought. I instantly slowed down, but she bucked her hips into mine.

"Don't you fucking slow down!" She shouted. I clenched my eyes tight and sped up again, but ran my hand down her stomach, pinching her clit hard and rubbing it furiously.

"Please..." I hissed out, my eyes still shut tight and my pace never ending.

"Fucking... Fuck... Ungh... Oh fucking SHIT!" She screamed, as I felt her clench tightly around me in quick little throbs.

"Bella!" I shouted as I came undone in her a few thrusts later. We lay together like that for a long while, me on top of her, my dick still inside her and my hand running lazy circles around her clit. I heard her moan again, before gasping quietly.

I lifted my head from her shoulder to look at her face and saw the beginnings of another orgasm. I continued my soft, slow approach to pleasing her and grinned like mad when she came quietly around my tired dick that was still inside her, gasping for breath, but not saying a word. I shut my eyes at the pleasure that my dick felt as she pulsed around me before looking back up at her.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked at me, a lazy smile on her flushed face. "You've not done that before."

"Neither have you." I smirked before getting up. I held a hand out for her and helped her to her feet. She appraised me for a second. "What?" I asked.

"How come you didn't take your pants off?" She laughed.

"I was in a rush." I shrugged, and then realisation hit me, my eyes widened, and she noticed.

"What?"

"I... Oh shit, I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking and didn't... We didn't use a condom." Now I know why that was so much more intense for me, I could feel her around me completely with no barriers.

"Oh... well... don't worry. I'm on the pill." She shrugged.

"Yeah but I shouldn't expect that..."

"Look, Edward, it's fine, from now on... no condoms. I'm on the pill, and I'm with you. I think we should expect trust from one another, and so I don't have a problem with it... Ok?"

"Are you sure?" I asked, although inside I was thrilled that we now trusted each other enough.

"Absolutely." She laughed, "Now..." She took my hand and pulled me towards the bedroom, "When do you want to move in?"

***

Two weeks later and I was completely moved in to Bella's apartment and my old place was empty for the landlord to do with as he pleased. Living with Bella was hectic, but amazing. She seemed to be so busy all the time and I was getting more and more stories to write as I built up a fan base amongst the readers.

The proof copy of the article I'd written about Embry's band was sent to them and approved, although I asked Carlisle to use a pseudonym for the piece because I wanted no connection in any way to that scum of a man.

I was awoken by a loud beeping noise and immediately groaned loudly, my grip on my girlfriend tightening to prevent her from getting out of bed and leaving me.

"Don't go," I whispered into her hair as my nose started the path down to her neck where I liked to kiss her in the mornings.

"You know I have to go to the studio today," Bella giggled, her voice thick with sleep.

"No. No you don't. You can stay here with me," I grumbled into her neck as she began to squirm in my arms.

"Edward, that tickles! Every morning you do this and every morning I tell you it tickles!"

"Don't pretend you don't like it, love!" I chuckled and rolled her over onto her back to I could hover over her.

"Get off me, you horrible, dirty, boy!" Bella squealed as I went for her neck again. She struggled underneath me so much so that she kicked me off the bed, and as I landed with a thump, I looked up to see her face peering over the edge at me, a cheeky grin on her face.

"You're so in for it, Swan!" I hissed as I stood up. But she was faster and literally sprinted to the bathroom, I got there just before she could slam the door and held my hand out so that she couldn't shut it. She gasped in surprise when I pushed the door open and slipped into the bathroom with her.

"I'm sorry!" She gasped as she was breathing heavily from her athletic sprint across her bedroom.

"Sorry's not good enough this time, Bella." I shut the door and pushed her against the back of it and revelled in the sight of her breath hitching. I lowered my head to hers and let my lips run over the shell of her ear for a few seconds while she continued to breathe deeply against my chest. "I suggest you get in that shower... Right now."

***

BPOV

***

Living with Edward was the Best. Thing. Ever! I never realised how much I craved having somone other than Rosalie to share my life with until Edward came along, and now I had him, there was absolutely no way he was getting out of my sight. He was working a lot more often now, he was being recognised in his own right as a credible writer although his relationship with me had been seen to help him along a little.

We'd been living together for almost three months and it was the best three months of my life. We'd both had to be away for work a few times although we always managed to schedule it that it was at most two nights of separation. Edward's old days of scheduling at the magazine coming in handy for organising everything.

The press was always a problem though. Now that I had a steady man in my life they were all over me like butter on bread and I couldn't seem to shake them, no matter where I went. We'd had engagement rumours and break up rumours, fidelity rumours (although neither of us were stupid enough to believe them), and now pregnancy rumours. To say that Edward had been worried would have been an understatement, he'd brought it up with me quietly over dinner and I'd nearly spat my food all over him. I reminded him that the magazines were at least 3 weeks behind news wise, and that if I'd been pregnant, I probably would have told him about it pretty soon after it happened. He calmed down a little after that but I noticed he was always fucking googling it, 'just incase'.

Alice and Jasper had decided to have a short engagement. A very short engagement. And Alice had managed to get all the arrangements sorted so that they could be married next week. I was currently out with my oh so helpful boyfriend trying to find a dress to said wedding.

"It's not funny, Edward! Wedding outfits are always a nightmare!" I groaned as he laughed at me from his seat outside the dressing room.

"Babe, you look amazing in everything. Just choose one!"

"I can't! You don't understand, I can't look too good because it's Alice's wedding!" I threw my arms up in the air in frustration and he laughed again, shaking his head at my erratic behaviour.

"Why? It's not like you'll be wearing... God Forbid... The same dress!"

"Of course not you oaf! But I can't be seen to be taking any attention away from her!"

"Well, by having you there at all means that a _little_ attention's going to be taken doesn't it? That's what you get for inviting famous people!"

"Exactly! So I have to make as little an impact as possible! You're useless at this, I should have brought Rose!"

"Maybe you should!" He huffed, "I can't tell you what dress will make me look at Alice more than you, because I can never take my eyes off you. Not even for my best friend's wedding!"

"This is _so _not the time for you being all lovey dovey, Edward! Just help me pick a fucking dress!"

"I don't fucking care what dress you wear, Bella! Just choose one!" Edward hissed, getting angry. I looked at him as his eyes smouldered and I wanted nothing more than to pull him into the dressing room with me. I huffed with a pout before throwing the curtain across infront of me again so he couldn't see me. I heard him chuckle before mumbling, "I'm never coming shopping with you again!"

"Oh, yeah? Not until I go lingerie shopping again, I guess?" I said, frustrated from inside the dressing room.

"Well that's obviously different. I benefit from that!"

"And you don't benefit from me being dressed in public?"

"Touche," Edward murmured and I grinned in victory.

I took the last dress from my options from the hanger and slipped it on. It was a Herve Leger silver and black colour block bandage dress, it was one shouldered with geometric lines. I turned to look in the mirror and smiled, I like it... alot. I pulled the curtain open and squealed when I saw Edward a few milimetres from the curtain, I would have crashed into him if I hadn't been paying attention. He smiled a cheeky smile and looked down at my dress, appraising me before his gaze worked it's way back up my body until he met my eyes.

"I'm going to give you some more... _constructive _advice," he grinned, looking down at my body again and licking his lips before once again, finding my eyes.

"Advise away," I whispered. Our faces mere centimetres apart as his hand smoothed down my side until it rested on my hip.

"How easy it to... put on?" He said softly, his eyes staring intently at my lips.

"_Very_ easy," I answered, just as softly.

"And... How does it feel against your body?" His voice was husky as he let his eyes scan my body again.

"_Soooo _good." I replied as he put his other hand on my other hip and pulled me a little more towards him.

"And where's the zip?" He asked. I frowned in confusion.

"At the back...?"

"So it's easy to... get off?" I smiled and nodded in realisation.

"Oh yeah," I smirked.

"And would you be... wearing a bra with this little number?"

"Absolutely... Not."

"I say that's the dress then," He chuckled as he stepped away from me, his head motioning towards the dress I was standing in.

"Yeah?" I asked, "It's not too much?"

"Bella, get the fucking dress and let me take you home," He said quietly but very quickly, indicating his desperation. I nodded and shut the curtain.

**A/N - There you go! Hope you liked it. This story is coming to an end soon, but I've already got ideas for another so don't get too upset!**


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